


Destiny

by wellthizizdeprezzing



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-06-09 21:35:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 43,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15276663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wellthizizdeprezzing/pseuds/wellthizizdeprezzing
Summary: Evil is on the rise in the form of the Grimm who now have a terrifying leader that carries out their deeds and who will stop at nothing to achieve world domination. The only thing that can stop her? The four destined ones. But will they unite in time or will the prophecy fall to shambles?





	1. Destiny One

She's an  **assassin** , known only by the name of Living Shadow, and by her intense hatred of the rebel group White Fang.

She's a wandering  **adventurer** , with a knack for blowing up things and getting into trouble.

She's a  **huntress** , the last of her kind, that's in charge of protecting people from the monsters of the night.

She's a ruthless  **princess**  that won't stop until she gets what she wants even if she has to destroy half the world to get it.

These four girls, so different from one another, and with such different lives, will have their paths intertwine with one another due to an uncontrollable event. But with such explosive and dangerous personalities, will they survive the fated meeting?

* * *

A dark cavern, lit only by flickering torchlight, illuminated the hooded figures that dwelled in it, waiting for the meeting to start. They sat at an earthen table, drab brown hoods over their faces, hands crossed obediently on the table as they waited. One of them had slight jitters going through his body, small cackles escaping his lips ever so often. He was impatient to begin but a single hooded look from the figure at the head of the table stilled his motions. Even though he couldn't see her eyes she terrified him as she did all people who came across her.

A click clack of heels and the thud of several pairs of heavy boots announced the arrival of five more hooded members into the main hall of the cavern. They took the seats that were empty, on the very end of the table. The leader of the five newcomers sat directly across from the leader of the meeting, her head bowed in penance.

"You're late," the harsh clipped voice stated and the newcomer's all bowed their heads. "It almost seems like you do not take this seriously."

"Apologizes grand master," the other leader said, her voice holding a tremor of fear in it. "There was a slight hold up that I needed to take care of. But you have my word and my soul that I am very serious about this task."

The grand master got up from her seat, the chair scrapping loudly on the stone floor as the torchlight flickered harshly, almost completely extinguishing under her terrifying aura. "Don't let it happen again." Was the final decision and every single one of the newcomers let out a breath of relief. The grand master took to pacing the cavern, hooded heads following her as she spoke. "The time is almost nigh for us to strike. All the chess pieces are in place, we merely need to move them. The world will never see us coming, and soon we shall rule it, as it is our right to do so." The grand master clenched her hand in emphasis.

"What about the prophecy?" spoke up the jittery hooded man. His leg had began to jiggle again and he forgot to control it. "Will that hold us back as it did so many times before?"

The grand master closed her eyes under her hood, her mind sinking into the past momentarily. People before her had failed countless times and no doubt most of those seated today here had worked for those masters before they had fallen to the forces of good. But she would be different. She would succeed where they had failed.

"Ah, yes the prophecy," she breathed out, coming to a stop in her pacing as she began to recite the words that haunted her every waking and unconscious moment. " 'Those chosen by the Grimm shall rise to the call of sin. They fight to bring about the end by darkest of hand. But there will be four, those who will stop the Grimm's chosen in an almighty war. And no matter the power the evil will amass they will always lose to one of ice and royalty from Atlas. They will squander their luck to the one who is in the night and blood stuck. They will face the past to the one who is the last of the last and be on the run, from the one who is more fierce than the sun.' " The grand master finished, shivers running down the backs of her servants. The prophecy always stood in their way of evil conquests. Even though it was intangible for now, soon it would manifest and bring down four warriors as it always did to thwart their goals.

"This prophecy has changed throughout the years, each Fall maiden pronouncing a different and more dire utterance upon the changing of the power from one Grimm chosen to another." The grand master had been Grimm chosen herself after a gap of more than ten years since the last one ruled, only two years of leadership under her belt. Yet she aspired for more than the others ever had.

The Grimm's dark desire's and wishes ran through her veins and her head and heart and she would do whatever she could to fulfill them if only she could have some peace from being their servant. They called about the end of the world, saying that would be the only thing that would sate their hunger. And she would serve it to them on a platter. "But this is the year where I shall prove that prophecy false. The prophecy only works if the four are able to meet. If one of them is prematurely plucked free from life," grand master mimed plucking a flower free before throwing it onto the floor. "Then our victory is guaranteed. But who are the people in the prophecy? I've taken it apart, one clue at a time and was able to decipher who one of them was. Why, the one who is of ice and royalty from Atlas is no other than someone from the Schnee family."

The jittery hooded man let out a wild laugh at that, nearly bending over on himself as he tried to contain his glee. "Of course, why did none of us see this before. You truly are a marvel my grand master! What will we do with them, now? Can I kill them? Can I?"

"While your enthusiasm is endearing you will not have a hand in this. The plans have already been handed over to someone else, someone whose skill set caters more to inside sabotage."

The jittery man's enthusiasm fell at that but he was soon cackling again when he realized that either way the one would be captured and killed.

"Grand master," spoke up a big man, who towered over others even when seated. "If I am not mistaken there are only two remaining Schnee members left. Winter, the older sister and current queen of Atlas, and her younger sister Weiss. Which one of them is it?"

"I was stumped by that conundrum as well. But in the end I figured capturing one instead of both would be easier and less likely to lead to us. And if one of them fails to be the one from the prophecy then we have someone on the inside who can always kill the other discreetly." This was said with a glance cast at the leader of the newcomers, who stared back at the grand master, her determination not unwavering.

Everyone at the table let the information sink in. Hope rose in their chests. Soon victory would be theirs and they would no longer have to hide in caves and tunnels like dirty rats. Soon they would walk the streets they owned. The single laughing man's chuckles escalated until they rang around the cave. The torches extinguished one by one and the meeting was adjourned.

* * *

Weiss Schnee was always careful. She had to be, given her line of work and who she was. She was the second child of King Schnee and soon to be partial heir of Schnee Dust Company, the biggest corporation in the world. There was a branch in every city, every town, and even in those hard to reach places the company still was known, the conglomerates name on every person's tongue. The Dust Company sold, mined and manufactured dust, having bought out or crushed every other competitor in the market. With such a monopoly on an important object it wasn't hard to find oneself with too many enemies to count: those who were jealous of the families power, or those that reviled their destructive business methods, the list of reasons to be hated dragged on and on. For the Dust Company did not care for its opponents; if you did not join then you were crushed viciously. And having a monopoly in dust, the object that helped sustain people in this world, did not sustain the Schnee's hunger for conquest. Already the company was expanding into any other possible categories. You wanted food? Well Schnee Friendly Foods Enterprises was there for that. You wanted beauty products? Well Schnee's Beauty Bounty Incorporated was there. Books? Entertainment? Toys? It was all slowly being owned by the company as they claimed their stake in the business world.

So yes, Weiss had to be careful. Not only in the way she structured business deals before crushing her opponents in new and creative ways, but also against people that would possibly want to kill her. And there was a lot of them. She spent an enormous amount of money on security. State of the art camera's, alarm systems, heat sensor devices, lasers, guard dogs, guards that were trained in military combat, the military itself, along with an array of highly advanced weapons for her workers and bullet proof everything. This included her windows, cars, clothes and of course hairspray. Which a variation of could now be found in Schnee's Battle Ready Huntress' for 29.99. She always made sure that she knew the ins and outs of her security team. They all had background checks done and were all tested and tested over again to ensure they could handle everything and anything. From a tiny rat to a full scale invasion. Weiss kept tabs on her team and rotated the positions and traps that had been set so that her enemies could never be sure what they could expect. Yes, Weiss was careful, but not everyone that worked for her was.

And that was how they had kidnapped her elder sister, Winter. Winter was the current head of the conglomerate and she was often called the Evil Queen due to the way she tyrannically ruled the markets. If people complained about Weiss being ruthless and calculated in the boardroom, Winter was double that. She absolutely felt no pity from ruining countless people's lives as her company bought land, forcing families off of it as she reshaped the landscape to her liking. And the way she treated Faunus was equally bad. She used them in her mines, and in other jobs that simply had horrid conditions. She treated them as if they were barely human. Weiss did not agree in this particular treatment, but business was business. Although this probably explained why the group White Fang was after them.

White Fang was a rebellion group, with the goal of revolution in order to change the treatment of Faunus by humans. They often took Winter's crimes against these Faunus as examples to rile others of their species into action. And it was working well. Many Faunus had already revolted and attacked other workers of the Schnee corporation as well as the stores. This caused a lot of money in damages, and in expanses paid to the military to stop these revolts. So of course it made sense that White Fang would eventually target the heads of the company after bidding their time and working up the resources for it. Weiss knew this would happen and so she had handpicked all the security and personally saw to the installation of all the traps and bullet proof items. But still, someone on her team had been careless and this was all that was needed for the White Fang to kidnap Winter.

It was absolute chaos when the White Fang bandits had made their way into the mansion belonging to the two sisters. Weiss had been in her study enjoying her tea and reading a particularly interesting journal about Keynesian economics when all the lights went off in the house and metal grates went over all the windows. Weiss sat in the sudden darkness, momentarily surprised, before she put all her objects aside and strode cautiously to the door. She put her ear to the door.

Silence.

This was odd.

Usually she would have been alerted ahead of time if there was going to be an attempt to breach the house or if there was going to be a practice drill. Frowning, she cracked open the door. In the darkness of the hallway the dull gleam of the various suits of armor lining the hall greeted her but that was it. There was no shouting, no running around of people. Was it a malfunction? The system had just recently been checked. No, it was too quiet.

Something was wrong.

She reached for her weapon, which she kept by her side, a sense of security flooding her. Even if enemies had made it into her house she was still trained in combat. She had attended Beacon Academy, a place for aspiring hunters and prodigious huntresses, after all, and graduated with honors. She was no slouch in a fight. Her sister too, had trained in Beacon Academy and was even better than Weiss in her skills.

Weiss crept down the hallways, one hand on her weapons hilt and the other holding her phone. "Weston, Weston, can you read me?" she whispered into her phone but all she heard was static. Why could she not get in contact with the head of her security team? She had to go find her sister who she knew was upstairs finishing up a business proposal. She tried calling two other squadron leaders on her phone, but was meet with failure yet again. Gritting her teeth in frustration she hid her phone away after silencing it. She didn't want loud noises attracting her enemies to her. She made her way to the large staircase that led upstairs, casting furtive glances here and there, her body held in a sneaky crouch. She was at a disadvantage because she couldn't see in the dark but if she used her flashlight she would be spotted more easily. But it seemed that no one was here. Had every one evacuated the building? But no, they couldn't. It was on lock down after all. Nothing could get in or out.

She had just put her foot down on the first step when suddenly loud sirens blared, making her jump out of her skin. They rang loudly, rattling the inside of her head as a voice screamed over the loud speaker. " There has been a breach...White Fang is here... communications cut off... their jamming our ability to correspond with each other...please everyone remain in the rooms. Enemy seems to be unarmed...but we don't know how many there are...all units report to duty. Please all units report. Someone respond-" There was a high pitched cry before the man's voice was cut off. Weiss gulped loudly. That was Weston. And from the sounds of it something had meet him. Weiss made her way up the stairs now with purpose, her heart beating rapidly. The white Fang were here. That was bad, very bad. She had to get her sister and they had to get out of here.

She pulled out her phone and called her. The emergency red lights were on, throwing the whole house into chaos, only made worse by the sirens and the buzz of the loud speaker which had not been turned off. The phone call didn't go through and Weiss cursed her luck. What had Weston said-that the communications were cut off or something? Did White Fang somehow manage to disable a state of the art system? Impossible! They didn't have the resources for it.

Weiss had made it up the stairs and down the hall at this point when she ran into a butler. "My lady, come with me. You mustn't be out of the room." He gestured wildly to her.

Weiss frowned. It was too dark to make out his face and she wasn't sure if he was not a spy. "Where are the other butlers and maids?" she inquired, voice calm despite the unease in her.

"They are all in the kitchens. A handful of us has been running around and checking that you and Winter are okay."

Weiss's grip on her weapon tightened, unsure what decision to take. She was just about to ask him another question when a loud explosion tore through the mansion. Walls and the ground shook from the impact as the whole front of the place was torn down in one fell swoop. Weiss fell to the ground from the shock wave, her weapon skidding away from her as she held onto the ground until the wave subsided. Her ears rang in protest to being subjected to such a loud noise and as she got up, dusting off her dress she could hear faint noises of gunfire and screaming. So now the enemy had brought out their cavalry. And among the din she could hear Winter's voice shouting out commands. "Squad one hold them off with squad two. Squad three report to west wing. Squad four search the mansion for my sister. Make sure she is safe."

It looked like her sister was safe. She'd just have to get to her. She was on her way to pick up her weapon when she felt a burst of cold air and someone grabbed her by the back of the collar. Ah, that's right. She had momentarily forgotten about the butler. She scolded herself for this lapse in memory as he threw her down the stairs with ease. She let herself go limp as a rag doll to avoid serious injuries, letting the cold marble stair edges bruise and bite her. Once she landed with a thud on the final step she sprung up ready to summon a glyph when the butler slid down the banister on his feet and then jumped off near the end propelling his nice leather shoes right into her face. She tumbled backwards head over heel, an angry cry coming from her lips. Her nose had most certainly been broken and blood streamed from her nose in rivulets, staining the front of her snow white dress.

"You-" she mumbled out coming to her feet, wiping the blood away. She steadied her hands, ready to send out a burst of glyphs but the butler just smiled and threw a smoke bomb at her. Coughing heavily, she tried to wave the smoke away and circled, making sure she had a watch on all sides of her so that he couldn't surprise her. But her eyes were growing heavy and with another sigh she realized that she had miscalculated. This was sleeping dust infused smoke. A barely out of testing item of the Schnee corporation. How had the White Fang gotten their hands on it? Cursing herself for her other lapse in carefulness she let out a sigh and fainted into the waiting hands of the butler.

* * *

A thrumming noise filled Weiss's head as she slowly regained her consciousness. Her head was griped in a splitting headache and her mouth felt parched and dry. She pried open her eyes, almost instantly regretting her decision as bright slants of light relentlessly stabbed her eye balls until they formed tears. There was a green army coat covering her and she was laying down on a lumpy couch that did nothing to soothe her bruises, her nose throbbing the most out of all of the injuries she had sustained. She sat up with a groan, clutching her head and the thrumming increased. Only when she gave her surroundings a quick survey did she realize that the noise was coming from outside her head, not in it. She was on a flight ship. But heading where? Would she have to fight her way out? She needed to make a plan.

She scooted over on the couch closer to the window where she could make out that they were flying over green fields dotted with the occasional house or two. Several other flight ships were around her in a protective formation. She recognized them as Atlas' army ships and a bolt of relief went through her. The army had arrived to save her. Had it been Ironwood's forces? Just as she thought his name the door to her small cabin slid open and a man walked in.

"Good to see you awake, Princess Snow White."

Weiss turned her head to see her guest, a hulking man with black hair. "General Ironwood." She greeted with a curt nod of her head. He was the general of Atlas's military force. They had known each other for a long time as he had worked with her parents before they expired and now he worked for her and for her sister. His pet name for her was Snow White as her white hair reminded him of the famous princess from decades ago, despite the two not sharing appearances or personalities for that matter.

"I'd prefer it if you'd drop the princess title," Weiss stated as she got up off the couch and handed the army jacket on her to him. He took it and folded it over his arm, a grin on his roguish face. "I see you still insist on not using your official title. Whether you like it or not you are royalty, Weiss. And not just in business. I still don't understand why you would give away a royal title like that."

Weiss waved a hand dismissively. He could try all he wanted but he was not getting an answer out of her for this topic. She had sworn that she wanted to earn her title. That she would only wear it once she had inherited her parents money and set off to build a business empire of her own. Until then she would just be referred to as Weiss.

"Anyways, I want to know how I ended up on one of Atlas's army ships. Was the enemy apprehended?"

Ironwood frowned, unsure of his next words. He truly did not want to tell the princess but he knew she would not be satisfied if he only told her roundabout things.

"Winter has been captured," he said with a depressed sigh, deciding it was best to get straight to the point.

Weiss clenched her fists, her heart stopping momentarily on those words. "How? Give me the full details."

Ironwood sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose, looking away from Weiss momentarily. "The enemy must have had an inside resource. A very clever and useful resource. They managed to jam communications in your place, take down most of your highly secretive system, and had weapons that were clearly manufactured by the Schnee company. In fact I am certain they had to have outside help. They arrived at the mansion using the public train tracks and using flight ships. Normally they would have gotten spotted the moment they set foot on such transportation especially given how much military power they were packing. But no one reported them and by the time they were seen it was too late. That's why we could not arrive until much later. They blew down the entire front part of your mansion before they reduced the other wings and rooms into similar rubble. The White Fang should not have had such fire power but they did." A pause here as Ironwood drew in a deep breath. Weiss waited impatiently for him to finish. She had already garnered as much from her fight with the faunus butler. She didn't care right now that she had no home to go back to, or that top secret Schnee weapons had been used against her. She wanted to know about the status of her sister.

"You were kidnapped and Winter ran after you. We all sent our resources on getting to you, not realizing you were the decoy and that they were really after your sister."

Weiss let this sink in for a bit, the noise of the engines the only sound in the tiny cabin. If only she hadn't been as incompetent in protecting herself then her sister's kidnapping would have been avoided. "Well then," she said at last, with enough steel in her voice to build a skyscraper. "We go after White Fang and we completely destroy them." With that she pushed her way past the general and into the corridors of the ship. People walked up and down the hall giving her a curt nod as she stormed past.

"Princess, wait!" General Ironwood cried out as he hurried to follow her but she did not slow down.

"For far too long have I been lenient with them. But now I see that by being too kind we have only let these weeds grow until they choke us and kill the beautiful garden we have strived hard to create." Weiss had never hated the Faunus before, and she was slightly sympathetic to their plight, but no one,  _no one_  dared to take her sister. True, they might be cruel and nasty to one another, often times their conversations leading hands to the others throat, but only a Schnee could harm a Schnee. No one else had the right to.

"Princess if you could just wait." Ironwood had now caught up with her. "Let us not be rash here."

"There is no need to be rash? Folly!" Weiss snapped, her heels now clanging loudly on the metal boardwalk she was on. They were in the heart of the machine, workers below them running among the engine and fueling it with water, coal and Dust to keep it afloat. Steam burst through the pipes below and a warning went out to keep the ship steady.

"Take me back to my house. I have matters to attend to."

"You cannot go back. It is in shambles. It is not safe," Ironwood countered, walking by the princess's side but not doing anything physically to stop her. "White fang members could still be around."

"That is exactly what I need. I'll run them through with Myrtemaster. Speaking of which, were is my weapon?"

"In the cargo hold in the back. Please listen to me princess-"

"Don't call me that!" Weiss hissed turning on her heels to stare at the man. She stopped her enraged walk and put her hands on her hips. "And why should I not go back? I have every right to. My kingdom is now without a queen, my family business is now without a CEO. I have to go back and keep watch over these affairs or else everything will go to hell." Weiss leveled the general with a stare and he remained quiet as he looked down at her. "Do you understand?"

"Perfectly, your highness." He gave a half bow and then came up, displeasure at her choice clear on his face as day, yet he did not argue more with her. Weiss sniffed haughtily and then resumed her walking, albeit less angrily, and spouting out orders. The general followed after her, his hands behind his back.

"Excellent. Once I return home I will take over the affairs there. I will need double the security and your finest men on the search squad to get to her. They couldn't have gotten far. White Fang will pay for this indeed."

The general gave a sigh. "Your highness."

"Don't call me that either," Weiss growled. She was not ready to take that title, even if she would have to momentarily due to her sisters disappearance.

"We cannot go after White Fang."

"Why not?" Weiss arched a brow, coming to a stop. She turned her head to her side to glance at him. The general swallowed deeply before he spoke, his face dark.

"They didn't take your sister; someone else did."

 


	2. Destined to Search

"What did you say?" Weiss's voice was quiet, like the first snowflakes of the year, falling gently onto the ground. But there was a barely restrained menace behind her words; a promise, that just like the gentle snowflakes could become a blizzard swirling around the city, covering it in snow and ice, that she too would erupt into anger and bury those who had taken her sister.

General Ironwood stopped himself from squirming under her ice cold gaze. "We don't know who took her, but it wasn't the White Fang for sure."

"Then who took her?! Who took HER?! WHO?" Weiss's shouts were heard over the clang of machinery and all the workers working below them turned to look up at the outburst.

"Princess, not here, let's go somewhere more private to discuss these matters," Ironwood whispered and motioned to grab her shoulder only to have her slap his hand away.

One of the workers below let out an instigating whistle. Things were getting intense. Ironwood heard this. "Back to work," he yelled at them, executing the authority he had over them and the workers quickly scrambled back to their stations.

"You are to explain everything to me. This instant," the princess hissed and then lead the way back to the room she had woken up in.

The general entered the room last and closed the door behind him while the princess paced by the window with her arms crossed against her chest. This could not be happening. She couldn't lose Winter. She was her only relative, after the King's and Queen's demise.

"My lady," the general started, unsure where to begin. He knew the princess for a long time and this was tearing her up on the inside. Despite not acting like it she loved her sister and would do anything to help her. Winter was the same, often taking the blame and dirtying her hands to protect her sister from the more sinister things in life. She had purposely taken the dark road, purposely slandered her own name so that her younger sister would not have to deal with those more vile aspects of business. Weiss didn't know the sacrifices that Winter made for her, but Ironwood did. He had promised to never tell Weiss any of this, to keep the truths guarded with his life.

Weiss stopped pacing and took a deep breath. She had to control her emotions, or else she would seem weak and act irrationally. She had to keep a steady head on her shoulders.  _Be as cold and impassive as ice,_  her mother's words rang in her ears.  _Lead with your head and not your emotions._

"You may continue, Ironwood. I am fine," she added as she saw his concerned look.

The general knew better than to question the lady about whether this was true so he began. "We know that White Fang infiltrated the palace. However, we had someone intercept the messages sent between themselves after the raid and found that they had failed in their mission; to secure Winter. We found this strange, as how could your sister have been kidnapped, but not been taken by the enemy. Listening into more of their messages we found that they mentioned the possibility of 'her' doing it."

"Who is 'her'?" Weiss asked, front towards the window and back to Ironwood as she surveyed their landscape. They were getting closer to the city of Vale.

The general let out a sigh of disappointment. "We do not know. Any other information regarding 'her' was forbidden from having been said."

Weiss pondered this a bit and tried hard to stop herself from hitting the glass in frustration. "So my sister has been kidnapped by a third party of whom we have no information whatsoever on except for the fact that it's a girl. How are we going to rescue Winter? What does the kidnapper want?" she asked softly in the end. This was her fault. If only she hadn't allowed herself to have been knocked out so easily, then none of this would have occurred.

"I'm sorry. We failed you and your family. I should resign for my incompetence. You trusted us with your lives and-" Ironwood hung his head in shame, defeat and regret.

Weiss cut him off. "There's no use in feeling guilty now. We must focus on rescuing her."

"We have no leads my princess. It could take us months to find any new ones and we don't have that type of time." Ironwood hated to admit this but it was true. The military could only do so much when nothing but dead ends awaited them.

Weiss grit her teeth at this information, taking a deep steadying breath before she spoke. "Well then find me someone that  _can_  find them. I want results and if I have to go out to the field and find answers for myself I will do it."

"That would put you at even greater danger, you cannot do that." The last thing Ironwood needed was for Weiss to be placed in harm too. Winter would be displeased to find out Ironwood had failed in protecting her younger sister. Ironwood let his mind drift back to a tidbit of information he had heard, hoping that it would tide Weiss over for the time being. "I do know that there was a tribe of people, far out in the country side..."

"Go on," the princess turned towards the general and arched an eyebrow inquisitively. Any information was welcomed now.

The general scratched his head. He had often heard this tale as a young child but he wasn't too sure of the details now. "Remember the children's tale of the huntresses?"

Weiss lowered her brows. "And why are you bringing up children's tales now, general?"

"They weren't entirely tales," the general started slowly. "They were based on true facts, made more innocent for the sake of children but I digress. These stories told the tales of hunter's and huntresses, those which inspired the creation of Beacon Academy-to create skilled hunters like those of the fables. The warriors lived on the edge of Remnant along the border of Never After where they fought terrible beasts called the Grimm, and helped to prevent them from entering into our world."

"Yes, I do recall that," Weiss paused to a vague recollection of her maid reading her that tale from the stories. And then to her younger days at Beacon, when she would learn the tales at school. She always dismissed them as mere child's stories, as a foolish hope that these hunters would return once more and destroy the Grimm once and for all. "But the warriors all died out and Grimm still got through. It was only with my great-great-great grandfathers discovery of Dust as a weapon that we could hold them back and reclaim our land." The warriors had mysteriously been wiped out by some great disaster. No one was certain what had occurred, but that the Grimm got stronger and were able to prey on villagers more.

"Yes, well before that they were widely known for their plethora of skills. They were excellent fighters, taking down massive beasts twice their size. They were excellent hunters, bringing down animal after animal without breaking a sweat. And they were excellent trackers, nothing could escape their notice." The Hunter's and Huntress's of days past had been true heroes, Gods among men. There was nothing they couldn't do. Select schools opted to have humans train in the footsteps of these great warriors but none of those who left the school could ever hope to be compared to those legends.

Weiss smiled. "They sound promising. But their not real." She let her smile drop and Ironwood felt the air in the cabin get ten degrees colder. "Are you trying to make a fool of me? This is a serious situation."

"No, I was being serious. I would never aim to make folly of you. It's just that it would be a good idea to give the plan a chance. Maybe some still exist and we could enlist them to help us."

"Oh sure," Weiss voice started to take on a snarl. She was ready to be nasty to Ironwood but fought it back. He was just trying to help. Her emotions were getting to her. She had to remain calm, he was just giving sound advice. "Fine. Bring a team of warriors to Vale and have them hunt down this mysterious person who has kidnapped my sister."

Ironwood nodded his head, glad to see that he had seemed to persuade the princess for now.

"Who are you going to send after them?"

"I'm going to send Beacon students"

"Beacon students? We are entrusting such an important mission to them?" Weiss felt her temper rising again. "Really, if you're trying to make a jester out of me-"

"No, that is not the case." Ironwood insisted. "We all know that Beacon students are the best in all of Remnant. It would be unwise to not have their help. In fact I have some students working in the army now, helping on missions to destroy Grimm. That being said I was going to send some to the border of Never After because they have been around there before and have had a lot of experience. They would know the tales of the Hunters better than anyone else. Also Ozpin, the headmaster of the school, asked me to do so, and it would look bad for the Schnee company and the military to turn down his help. He is a powerful ally. One that could benefit us in the fight against the White Fang."

Weiss let out a long sigh before sitting down on the couch. "And what about the rest?"

"Yes, well we will send a professional team after your sister the queen, and in the meantime keep an ear out for more information about the kidnapper."

There was a long silence. The flight ship had begun its descent downwards, the noise of machinery filling in the auditory gap. Weiss glanced out the window, face contemplative. The general waited for her to speak.

At last she looked away from the window, her face hard with the decision she made. "Ironwood."

"Yes?"

Weiss stood up from her seat. "I want an airship, along with armed guards, back to my palace so I may gather the important documents and settle the issues there. Only then will I retire to a safer position."

"Of course, princess you will have that." The general nodded his head.

"Second, stop calling me princess."

"Apologizes."

"And thirdly-" at this Weiss stared into the generals eyes, her blue gaze piercing.

"I want you to find these so called huntresses and bring them to me."

"Of course." The ship ground to a halt as it landed on the docking station. Workers outside were already running around to help tie it down.

"Now then, I will keep in contact with you. Don't let me down this time. The fate of the Schnee kingdom and Dust empire rests in your hands. And no matter how close of a family friend you are this time I will not be so forgiving."

The general bowed deeply as the princess moved past him and started shouting out in the halls. "Where is the cargo room?"

* * *

Jaune took a hard right hook to the face before he flopped down onto the blue training mat with all the dignity of a fish out of water. "Are you alright Jaune? I didn't mean to hit you that hard. I thought you would dodge it!" Pyrrha's concerned voice rose up in pitch as she realized what she had done to her team leader. She stuck out a hand to help him back up to his feet, the blonde haired boy accepting it gratefully.

"It's alright," Jaune answered, shaking his head to dislodge the remaining throbs of pain in his nose. "I should have been paying attention. I got a bit distracted there." He was supposed to be training with Pyrrha, his teammate, but his mind had been on his upcoming class tests and not on watching where her fists flew. He was stressed out because he wasn't the brightest student and the tests where hard. He had all but flunked one of them, and given the way his grades were going, it was just another failure on top of his failure to fight successfully.

"Maybe we should take a break then, so you can get your head back in gear," the red haired girl suggested and Jaune shook his head. A break wouldn't help. He would only spend it thinking about the upcoming tests. "Let's continue. I don't want to waste more of your time." Pyrrha was being kind enough to give him the help he needed in training his body and he didn't want to waste her time. She was already doing him a big favor by spending some of her precious free time helping him out.

He lifted his arms in a defensive position, sliding his feet into the correct stance Pyrrha had shown him, keeping his eyes trained on her body to make sure he could sense her muscle movements before she struck, giving him an advantage in avoiding her. She had taught him how to do this and while he was still slow in this, he was gradually getting up to date with the ability. It was one she used often in the Vytal tournaments, making her the champion of them for three years in a row. He still couldn't believe she wasn't the leader of this team. He had expected she would be, everyone had. But then Ozpin had shocked everyone out of the blue by declaring Jaune the leader. Jaune had been devastated. He knew better than anyone else his limitations. He had falsified his records after all just so he could get into this school. There was no way he would be able to lead a team of three other highly skilled warriors. Soon everyone would know that he was a fraud and that he shouldn't be here.

Perhaps Ozpin had suspected from the start that Jaune was a fake and wanted to punish the boy by placing him in such a position of power and responsibility. That way if Jaune's teammates died he would learn the real consequences of lying when it came to matters of war. This thought had not cheered the boy up at all. It made him more depressed than anything else, but his teammates seemed to sense his unease and reassured him. They told him they would trust him, he just had to trust himself to do well. And so he had. He tried to trust himself, to believe there was a better reason for being placed as leader of the team. And he was right. He had consulted Ozpin about this when his curiosity and insecurities grew to be too much and the headmaster had told Jaune that the boy was an excellent strategy maker. That he could lead his team in fights correctly, in the most efficient way. And so Jaune had taken to perfecting that even more to make sure that it did become an absolute truth; that he was the best strategist.

Still, he had a lot of areas to improve upon and his teammates were more than happy to help him in those areas. Pyrrha was the superior fighter on their team and she took to sparring with him either with their weapons or with helping him train his muscles. Jaune had thought the red haired girl would have hated him, given how he had stolen a spot as leader that was rightly her's. But she wasn't mad. She was supportive, egging him on the most. At first he had thought she was being false about it, showing him a nice face while she cursed him internally for taking her spot. But as he got closer to her he found out that she an honest and good person and that she contained not a single bad bone in her body. Her help was genuine and he was grateful for it. She was the crutch he needed to become the leader they needed.

Ren, his other teammate helped him with his studies. The two always did homework and studied together whenever possible. But improving one's knowledge was harder than improving one's body and so Jaune often floundered in every subject. But with Ren's help, he was doing better in one subject already, which was better than how it had been at the start. Since Jaune had never gone to a training school before, he missed out on so much information. He had huge gaps to cover and they were not easy to cross. It was like trying to cross a gorge with a broken bridge. He had only had himself to blame for this, as he was the one who had thought he could make it in Beacon academy without ever having gone to battle school before.

And lastly Nora helped him with his aura and semblance training. He had made heaps of progress with his aura, being able to heal any wound almost instantly, however, his semblance was still a mystery to him and he didn't know how to call it out. Neither did Nora. She had tried meditation, yoga and intense exercise but none of the methods had worked. So the impatient girl had opted to try to beat the shit out of Jaune and hope that in some way his semblance would arise so as to protect him from her lighting strikes. It didn't work, as was to be expected.

Jaune still had a long way to go, but he had also come a long way from how he was a mere six months ago. When he had first started school.

A knock to the side of this temple told Jaune that he had once again gotten distracted. He stumbled to the side, trying to regain his balance. Pyrrha pulled back, concern on her face. "Maybe we should call it quits for today. Your mind is all over the place and so are your moves."

"Sorry," Jaune said, ruffling the back of his head. "Just give me one more try." He really didn't want to finish the training session so early today. He internally scolded himself for being so easily distracted.

"Okay, if you insist," Pyrrha said, lifting her hands up. Jaune mirrored her and the two of them circled each other on the rug. Just as Pyrrha flung her fist out, the door opening to the training room distracted Jaune, as the woman who had opened it called out the blonde boy's name. "Jaune Arc?"

The boy craned his head to look at her and got punched in the side of the face, landing down hard on the mat once more. "Alright I think that's enough for today," Pyrrha declared, helping the boy to his feet.

"Pyrrha Nikos," the visitor to the room also said and the red head addressed Professor Goodwitch because Jaune couldn't, his jaw having gotten somewhat locked by the Vytal champions last hit. He massaged before trying to pry it open it while the two women talked. It didn't work so well so he quickly gave up.

"What is it professor Goodwitch?"

"I was wondering if you two could join headmaster Ozpin for a moment in his office. He wishes to speak to you about something of high importance. Bring Ren and Nora as well."

Jaune and Pyrrha both nodded their heads at the professor left. Jaune could feel his heart rate pick up. What did the professor want to speak about that was so urgent? Was it about Jaune's forged school records? He could feel his palms getting a bit sweaty. He really hope this wasn't going to be the case, otherwise all his hard work would be for naught once he got kicked out of the school.

The two teens collected their gym bags and went back to their shared dorm room where the last two members of their team were. Ren was sipping some tea over a pile of books while Nora pestering him as he tried to do his work. "Ren, Ren! Make me some pancakes, pleaseeeee? I'm so hungry I could starve!" She was sitting across from him slapping her hands on the small table they were seated at. His books rattled up and down with every slap as did his tea cup in the saucer, not that he seemed to mind. The two were childhood friends and over the years Ren had mastered ignoring Nora's childish proclivities into a fine art.

"You guys are back early from the gym," he commented, not picking up his eyes from the books.

"Ozpin wants to meet with us, so we had to cut it short," Pyrrha informed.

"As a team?" Ren asked.

"Yes."

"Did he say about what?" Ren set his pencil down at this.

"I hope it's something cool!" Nora shot out of her seat, forgetting about her desire for pancakes as now she was excited by what Ozpin wanted from them. "Maybe a mission or something. I do hope we get to slay Grimm!"

 _I sure hope we don't_ , Jaune internally said.  _I'm still not capable as team leader._   _I'll get them all killed._

"Professor Goodwitch didn't specify," Pyrrha shrugged.

"Let's go find out then!" Nora zoomed out of the room, Pyrrha following after her along with Jaune and then Ren.

They made it to the headmaster's office, a huge room with green furnishings and high ceilings along with big windows that surveyed the whole of Beacon campus. He was sitting at his desk but stood up once they entered, his cane tapping the floor. He circled around to the front of his desk and stood with his back straight, hand on cane. "Team Junior, I called you in because I wish to speak with you on an important matter."

Jaune's hands began to sweat heavily at this.  _Please don't let it be about my fake records_. He didn't want his friends to know. He had come to love and care for them and he didn't want to know how much of a big prevaricator he was, despite them probably having some idea given his abysmal skills.

"Recently there has been a turn of unfortunate events in Atlas. You may or may not have heard that the Queen was kidnapped." At this gasps let the mouths of every team member. Or at least Jaune tried to gasp. His mouth was still stuck. "As such the kingdom is in a bit of a situation. Weiss, the queen's younger sister has asked for Beacon Academy's help in securing her sister. This is a great honor, as she bypassed all other schools in order to choose ours. And as such we must make sure that her trust is not misplaced. Thus, I have decided to pick the top teams in this school and will send them out to help Weiss recover her sister."

"You choose us, to go on this mission?" Pyrrha could not stop herself from asking the question. She was a bit surprised and horrified at the magnitude of the job Ozpin was suggesting. Meanwhile Nora was ecstatic. "I knew we were going on a mission! Called it!" she jumped up and down twice in excitement.

"Yes." Ozpin nodded his head. " I feel you are highly qualified for the job. Weiss has informed me that you will be heading towards the Border of Never After in order to seek out the help of the Hunters and Huntresses there."

"But those don't exist!" Pyrrha countered while Jaune let out a protest at the location of their journey. No one could understand him however. Ren was the first to understand why. "You got your jaw locked again." Then he delivered a smooth punch that sent Jaune's head in the other direction, popping open his mouth at the same time.

"The Never After?! But that place is dangerous. It's full of Grimm. No one in their right mind would live there. Why would Weiss send us in search of someone that lived there?" Jaune questioned, already stressed out at the prospect of going there and risking his team's lives.

Ozpin let out a grim sigh. "I know full well the dangers of that place, Mr. Arc. But I would not have sent you there if I did not think the team capable of this. I still remember your last mission."

Ozpin was referring to a mission that the team had conducted a month ago. Well, conducted wouldn't be the right term. More like fallen into? They had initially started off on a sanctioned mission but then due to one blunder after another, they had ended up in a section of the Never After. They thought they were goners for sure. After all the Never After was the home of the Grimm. It was where the Grimm came from. A secluded part of Remnant that was situated at the top of Vale. From there all the Grimm came. It was a wood, so treacherous that it made any other Grimm infested wood or part of the world look like a playground for kids. And team Juniper had gotten stuck in it.

It was only thanks to luck, coincidence, and pure desperation that they broke out of the woods and scaled the huge walls built to prevent Grimm from crossing over. They had only been there for an hour or so, but the nightmares and scars from the experience had taken longer to leave.

It was mostly all the tales and legends surrounding the place that had lead to their fear, but it was also the atmosphere. The woods were dark and hungry, almost as if they were alive themselves. The actual amount of Grimm had only been one or two, something they had made short work off. Over the years the humans had built dust infused giant walls around the forest, hoping to keep most of the weaker Grimm trapped inside. Military personal also patrolled the tops of these walls, shooting down what beast they could land their bullets or arrows on. They were no longer as many Grimm as before and thanks to the advancements in dust technology due to the Schnee company, the Grimm who did escape quickly became minced meat. That wasn't to say that Grimm couldn't spawn randomly in other locations of Vale or Remnant. But when they did at least people had the power to stop them

Still, despite the fact the team had been there, Jaune did not want to force them back there and they all knew the decision lay with him. "I still do not feel comfortable leading my friends into danger. We only got out last time due to luck. It could have ended much worse than a few wounds and a broken bone."

"I know that Mr. Arc, but would you rather I send in team CFVY? They have even less experience than you do with that part of the world. Sending in them blind would be a terrible mistake."  _Would you want their blood on your hands?_  Went the unspoken message. And Jaune swallowed harshly.

Pyrrha could see that Jaune was hesitating so she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, we are ready to do this mission. Do not worry about us. We  _have_  to do this mission." Her green eyes meet his blue gaze. "If we do not do it, then the other team could go in our place and get badly hurt."

"And it's a mission! Woo!" Nora cheered. "How many teams get that, especially one so important?"

Ren nodded his head in agreement. "We want to do this mission." Jaune took in all their faces; he could see fear underlying the emotions they tried to cover it up with. Yet they were trusting him to lead them safely on this mission. He let out a long sigh. He hoped he wouldn't regret making this choice. But he supposed there was no alternative choice. His team was the best fit for this job whether he liked it or not.

He turned to Ozpin, squaring his shoulders and taking a step froward, Pyrrha's hand falling off his shoulder and joining her side. And then in a voice sounding braver than he felt, he spoke up.

"My team will take the mission. What else do we need to know for it?"


	3. Destined to Run and Hide

Winter knew she was in a car without even opening her eyes. She could feel the steady thrum of the smooth engine under her feet, and the cold feel of glass against her face which she was grateful for. It helped to ease her tremendous headache which she was certain was a result of the Dust infused sleeping gas that had been used on her. It meant the product was a success, ready to be launched to the markets of war, but she did not enjoy being one of the first human test subjects.

However, she couldn't waste time thinking about that now or what had even happened before-she had to focus on escaping from her kidnappers. So far she knew she was in a car, a quiet one, meaning they were careful. Also, the only restraint's she felt against her body was the seat-belt, her fingers and toes free as she gave an experimental twitch.

The lack of restraint's must have been a mistake, the White Fang would never keep a strong fighter like her unrestrained. Was there an error of some sort? Was she perhaps rescued by the army? Daring to open her eyes a crack she found herself in the back seat, adjacent to the driver. The driver had a black hood up that covered their face in deep shadows and even by using the rear-view interior mirror she couldn't see any distinguishable features to tell who they were. They were entirely glad in black attire, even down to their hands, which leather bound were clutching the wheel with a vice like grip.

Winter was confused. Were they White Fang? Had they just not restrained her because they thought she wasn't going to wake up until they got to the destination? Winter shifted her eyes to the window, careful to not move her head and alert the other to her awakening. They were driving along a barren road, stalks of corn the only thing she could see for miles on either side. Judging from the sky it was some time after six. The attack had occurred early in the day. She had been out for some while and her stomach growled, reminding her of it. There was a chuckle from the driver as he heard it.

Winter closed her eyes and pretended she was asleep again.

Damn her stomach. She could control her kingdom and business without trouble, but she had no control over the noises her stomach made.

She heard the driver rustle in some bag upfront.

"Here. Eat this."

Winter was tempted to open her eyes but didn't instead remaining as unmoving as an icicle.

"I know you're awake." The drivers voice was feminine and quiet, like the engine of the car.

Winter's stomach gave another growl and she cursed out-loud. She gave up the act of pretending she was asleep and looked at the driver. He-no she- was holding an apple out to Winter. It looked succulent and delicious but who knew if it wasn't poisoned? She had had issues in her kingdom before with poisoned apples.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she crossed her arms over her chest, trying to look as imposing as she could even though a quick glance down told her her clothes were ruined and in tatters around her bruised skin. "You know you can get into serious trouble for kidnapping a queen." Winter's brain was already running to possible plans for escape. The driver seemed harmless for now, but who knows where she was driving her. She didn't want to stay long enough to know.

The driver let out a chuckle and retreated her hand with the apple in it. She bit down into it herself. "I'm not kidnapping you. I'm saving you."

At this instant Winter took her chance and threw herself against her car door only to find it locked.

The driver let out another chuckle at this, taking another bite of the apple as Winter glared angrily at her.

"Then release me this instant. I need to contact the army and let them know my whereabouts."

The driver did not say anything for a bit before rolling down her window and throwing her apple out where it hit the tree and splattered to pieces. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"That's exactly what a kidnapper would say." Winter hissed and unbuckling her seat-belt launched herself into the front seat to attack the driver. But before she could so much as pull on the hood, the back of the drivers fist connected with her nose painfully. She sat back down in her seat in shock as she blinked away her tears. "You have no idea what you have caused by taking me away. My sister will not let you or White Fang get away alive."

The driver laughed at this and the queen, angered, rose to grab her again but was greeted by an elbow to the gut that sent her back to her seat, coughing.

"I don't work for White Fang. I work for my own agenda, and that is to protect you." White Fang was said with such viciousness that it could have stopped a man's heart from the level of hatred spat out. But Winter was not a man.

"And why would you do that? I've never seen you before," Winter wheezed as she tried to catch her breath.

"I was there at the battle."

Winter let her memory flicker back to the fight. She had just sent a squadron to rescue her sister before she was to go after her herself. But first she had to take care of the three Faunus in front of her. They were skilled and not easily letting up and she was getting desperate to reach her sister. One of them had thrown a canister of Dust sleeping gas and she bolted out from the cloud of smoke it left, knowing full well what it did. Another enemy appeared by her but instead of attacking her it leapt over the smoke cloud and onto the Faunus on the other side. There were subdued cries and Winter ran towards the noise to try and finish them off, but her eyes had already grown heavy. She must have inhaled too much smoke. As her legs and arms betrayed her she saw the enemy from before, the one clad in all black run up to her and catch her as she fell into their arms.

"You were there," Winter hissed out in surprise. "But what do you want from me? You're not White Fang."

"No, I'm not," the driver reaffirmed with a hint of amusement now. "I saved you from them because I need you to stay alive."

"And you don't work for the military or anything? Who sent you to me?"

"That's not important right now-"

"Of course it is! I'm the queen, and you will tell me this instant."

"I'm afraid that's not how this works, Winter. You and me are going to make a deal. A very important one. But before that, before I can bring you back to your family you will need to stay hidden with me for a while until everything blows over."

"As if  _you_  will dictate what I do."

At this the driver wrenched the car wheel hard and Winter who was not buckled in hit her head hard on the window.

"What was that for?" the queen hissed, rubbing her sore spot as the driver righted the car.

"Pothole." But there was brief amusement in the voice before it went back to being serious. "Now I understand your concern but I need you to sit tight because White Fang will be on the look out for us. Once we reach a safe location we can discuss this...deal of ours."

Winter was not happy being bossed around. When she told someone what to do, they did it without question. "I'm not making any sort of deal with you. You will let me out of the car now. Right this  _instant_." She pointed to the floor in emphasis.

The driver let out a long sigh. This was going to be a long ride. Maybe she should use some of her special dust to put her back to sleep again.

* * *

An hour later, the driver woke up in the ruined wrecks of the car. It had swerved right into a tree (the only one in miles of corn stalks) and the front was crumbled in like an accordion. The windshield was broken into tiny little shards that jingled as she moved her face from the pillow. She looked around, rubbing the gash in her forehead, a bit disoriented. The back seat was empty and the trunk had been popped open.

Winter must have run away. The queen really was not happy about being given orders and had gotten the best of her when she had been momentarily distracted by the queen yelling out, "look White Fang!" Blake had looked out, allowing Winter to conk her in the back of the head with her expensive heel and then the car had swerved into this tree. How long had she been out? How far had Winter gotten?

Letting out another groan, Blake limped out from the car, inspecting her body quickly for any bothersome damage, and finding nothing but the gash on her forehead and the pain in her leg as she walked, she set out onto the road. It was quiet and empty, dusk now falling.

Really, it was so shameful she had fallen for that trick. A four year would have fallen for it. And now she had lost Winter, with no idea as to where she had gone. Pulling the scarf away from her face she took in a deep breath of air. There was the smell of growing things, of dirt and of gasoline from her now wrecked car. Oh, Winter was going to pay for that, it had been expensive. And there was just a faint hint of Winter's scent. Sharp and clean like newly laid ice on a skating rink. There was a rusty tinge to it and Blake knew she was bleeding. She wouldn't get far.

Smiling to herself, Blake repostioned her scarf and followed the trail.

* * *

Winter hadn't gotten far, her body weak with hunger. Add on a pounding headache and she was ready to take a nap. Also, she had hit her knee pretty bad in the collision and was limping, her step labored. Plus she was bleeding heavily from a scratch that ran up and down her left side. She had forgotten to buckle in her seat-belt when she'd made her bid for escape, getting tossed around in the car. Seat-belts made all the difference. Luckily, she was able to rip her sleeves off and make a sort of wrap around the wound but it had only slowed down her bleeding. She was barely walking by the time night had fallen, her feet screaming at her in her heels and not a single car had driven past. Additionally, there were no lights on the road, making her stumble over potholes and bumps. The corn stalks swayed around her, eliciting a sound as the breeze ran through them that was much like mocking laughter.

Would there be any criminals out here? Or even Grimm? She wasn't sure she could take them on in this state. Thankfully she had her weapon with her, if she could find the strength to brandish it. Right now her delirious mind was telling her to drop the dead weight and to make it easier for herself. She was debating internally over this intensively as her grip gradually slackened, so it was no wonder she didn't notice the person behind her until they had picked her up and were carrying her bridal style. Lifting her head up feebly to yell, she saw it was the driver. How had she survived without getting hurt at all? Sighing she let her head drop back down, figuring she would just have to try an escape later.

"I'm going to have to charge you for that car," the figure informed her. "It wasn't very kind what you did to it. And it cost me a pretty Lien."

"Get me to a hospital and we'll talk," she intoned, refusing to let her weakness show in her voice. "I don't favor dying in the arms of a complete stranger in the middle of a cornfield."

The figure chuckled and hefted her body up as she had began to slip in her grip. Winter felt her body drifting off to sleep, weariness over taking her. Her body was going limp and she dropped her sword. The driver gave a sigh before pausing, kicking the weapon up with her foot and letting it land on Winter's stomach. "I need you to stay awake. It's dangerous with your amount of blood loss."

Winter frowned. "Don't tell me what to do." But she knew it was true. She had learned that much from her years at Beacon. "I was already doing it."

"Sure, sure," the driver grinned. She was limping slightly too, but her body had already recovered mostly. They walked like this for a while, Winter fighting off the urge to sleep. The world was blurring around her due to her blood loss and she really wanted to lie down somewhere quiet and soft and rest until she had regained her strength, until her aura would kick in and heal her.

She wondered if her sister was alright. Had she been taken by the military? Or by the White Fang? If the rebel group had taken her then Winter would come after them one by one, killing them without mercy. How could they do this to her after all the deals they had made? They were supposed to be business partners!

Winter knew her family had never had great relations with the Faunus. As long as she could remember her whole family, dating back to her great-great-great grandfather, had hated the Faunus and had used them to operate the Dust mines. Even Winter's and Weiss' mom and dad, the late King and Queen had upkept that tradition even as times began to change and others began to fight for Faunus rights. This hatred and prejudice was what had earned them their deaths. Winter had been thrown into the throne at the mere age of 16, left to handle the whole kingdom of Atlas as well as the Dust company.

Winter had hated being forced into such a heavy role as such a young age. She had barely come from Beacon Academy, where she had practiced to become a huntress, and had to take over such a huge destiny. She had to throw away her childhood dreams of being a hero to become a villain. She knew how much people hated her and her family line. She hadn't wanted that hatred. She had wanted to be loved. But reputation often precedes a person and even before she got a chance to prove otherwise she was labeled as the next Evil Queen, a title that her mother had held before.

So Winter decided to do just that. She would be evil. She would crush business's, she would crush Faunus lives, she would do anything as long as she could keep her sister from having to do this. Her sister Weiss was set to inherit half the Kingdom once she reached the age of 18 as according to the will but Winter didn't want her to have to do that. She wanted her sister to be free. She wanted her to live a life far away from all this political war and corruption. Winter still remembered how her and Weiss had both shared the dream of being huntress's, both powerful enough to rival those of legends past. But Winter's dream had died when her parents had, and somewhere along the way so had Weiss's. She no longer wanted to be a huntress. She was intent on building up her own company and kingdom but for whatever reason it was Winter wasn't sure.

And this unnerved Winter. For years, until Weiss had graduated from Beacon Academy at the top of her class, Winter had stained her hands over and over with blood, both human and Faunus in order to keep her sister safe. She had promised to herself that she would keep Weiss's dream alive, so that the girl wouldn't have come down into the muck with her. She wanted her to have the choice of escaping her legacy. Winter didn't care if she crashed and burned down with it as long as her sister didn't.

This need to protect her sister was what had driven Winter to making her arrangement with the White Fang. They were a weak group at the time, just building up steam under the new and hot headed leader Adam Taurus. He held great promise and he was more open minded than his predecessor, which worked greatly in Winter's favor. He accepted her offer after little deliberation and a pact was born. Winter would allow the White Fang access to top grade armor and fire power as well as secret codes and insider information if they took down her competitors for her. They would help her take gradual control until one day she would rule over all businesses, amassing ridiculous amounts of money and power. And then she would declare war. She would wipe out all the cities in Remnant and after the rubble and dust settled she would rebuild a new world, one that was equal for both Faunus and humans. She would wipe away all existing prejudices, and make the world a place that was better for her sister. That way Weiss would grow up in a world where their family name was beloved and not reviled.

Winter didn't really hate the Faunus. She only pretended to in order to fool others. After all, she had to allow the White Fang to orchestrate attacks on her own company so that suspicions wouldn't be raised. Then she collected the insurance money and paid the rebel group off with it. They then used that money to give to less fortunate Faunus. And things had been going so well. Adam and Winter, while not trusting each other completely, held respect for one another. They got results, whatever it was that was asked of them. Winter had even let one of his men into the security team for quicker communication between groups. She had thought they would see her plans through to the end; everyone would be happy if it all worked out. Adam would no longer have to fight from the underground for Faunus rights and Winter would no longer be considered evil. But then he had destroyed everything that they had carefully and meticulously constructed together.

He had betrayed her. And she didn't know why.

"We're here," a soft voice broke into her thoughts and Winter looked up groggily. She had been drifting in and out of consciousness and now she felt herself being lowered down gently to a stale mattress.

"This isn't a hospital," she noted dryly, giving her surroundings a quick look. They were in a dark house, Winter in the dusty bedroom.

"No, it's not," answered the driver. "But I can't take you to one. It's too risky."

"So you're going to let me bleed out here?" Winter let her head drop heavily to the mattress, too tired to care about how filthy it was.

"No." There was hint of a smile to the voice. "I know how to stitch wounds. Just lay still."

The driver went to rummage through the house, looking for something she could use. The place was deserted, but only recently and she knew there had to be something of use to her here. She tried flicking on the lights but the power was out, so she settled for looking for a flashlight. While she had had superb vision in the dark, the tool was more for Winter's sake. In case she had to go to the bathroom in the dark. And also to cover up the fact that the driver was a Faunus. There was no need for Winter to know that, given what her proclivities towards them were. If she found out a Faunus was tending to her, she might choose death rather than accept the help.

Winter lay on the bed, waiting for the driver to return as she fought back the urge to sleep. Worry for her sister consumed her mind but there was no use rushing out when she was in such a disadvantaged state. All she knew was that she was going to get away as soon as she could from this driver and return back to her kingdom. She didn't even have her scroll on her; the driver had seen to disposing of it.

The driver came back a couple minutes later with the very basics of medical supplies and knelt down next to Winter whose breathing had gotten shallower. The girl's eyes were barely open. Winter felt the mattress creak next to her as the driver settled down. She gently removed the wrap Winter had made around her wound. It was thoroughly soaked with blood, heavy with the scent of copper. "This may hurt a bit," the driver informed, raising a needle, it glinting brightly in the dark of the room. "I'm afraid there were no pain killers to be found."

"I don't mind the pain as long as you do a good job," Winter stated. Perhaps the pain would bring a clarity to her mind. Without another word the driver got to work, cutting up pieces of Winter's dress to reveal the full length of the the wound, before sanitizing the area with alcohol. Winter held in a hiss of pain, her fingers arching in on themselves. They held a small flashlight between their lips, the small beam of light illuminating the patch of ruined skin. With it Winter was allowed to notice the extent of the damage and saw the wound was deep, but not as deep as she had thought. Most of the reason for it's heavy bleeding was due to the length of it. It curved up her ribs like a wicked smile, carved out by a maniac.

"Can you pull your dress back?" the stranger instructed and Winter did, pulling back the cut flaps. This dress had cost a lot of Lien and now it was completely ruined. The driver wiped away the blood with a clean cloth, making sure to be gentle with it, the fabric curving up and down Winter's rib cage. Once done with that, they jabbed the needle into her skin without warning.

"Fu-" Winter huffed, stopping herself short. It wasn't ladylike to curse. "Give me a warning next time."

"I thought you said you didn't mind the pain," the driver intoned, moving the needle in rapid succession. Winter closed her eyes at the unpleasant feeling. "Why did you rescue me?" she asked, hoping to distract herself with conversation. It was also something she wanted to know. The driver was a mysterious figure to her. For who did she work for? What was her purpose? She had said something about making a deal with Winter, but a deal for what?

The driver was silent a while before responding around the object in their mouth. "Because you were being attacked."

Winter let out a dry laugh at this, the driver pausing as the white haired girl's ribs moved and she didn't want to prick her unnecessarily. "Do you fancy yourself the hero type? Rescuing any girl that is in danger?"

The driver didn't answer that barb, finishing up the last stitch. She cut the thread and packed up her things. "Stay here. I'll get you a change of clothes."

"I'm taking a shower first. I will not lie in my own sweat and blood," Winter stated, getting off the bed too quickly and getting dizzy as a result. The driver steadied her by the elbow until Winter was able to stand on her own feet without wobbling. Winter snatched her elbow away harshly. She had a reputation to uphold. She couldn't be seen as nice or weak. She had to be strong and vicious. Already she had lost much pride by having to be carried here by the stranger. "I can handle myself," she hissed with added ice to her voice and strode off in the direction of where she assumed the bathroom was.

Inside it was dark and she used her sense of touch to figure out where the knobs were. She stripped, thankful that the water was working at least and got under the lukewarm spray. There was no soap or shampoo to wash up with so she did as best she could with scratching the remaining blood clinging to her skin with her fingernails. She had to take mini breaks in between, her head still light headed.

"I'm leaving your clothes inside," the stranger's voice startled her, sounding surprisingly close. Winter again was reminded she would have to get information out of the other on their situation and then have to escape. She wanted to do it now but she wasn't strong enough. Her heart told her to go but her brain told her no. All she could do was hope that Weiss was okay. And if those White Fang bastards had harmed a single hair on her head-!

There was the noise of a throat clearing. "How much longer are you going to be in there?"

"What are you still doing in the bathroom? Get out, I'm having a shower!" Winter spat, annoyed that the other was still in here. She felt the urge to cover her privates with her hands but resisted.

"I have to make sure you don't run away. Or faint."

"I won't do either of that! Now get out. Queen's orders!" There was silence on the other end of the curtain. Winter gave a triumphant little humph before she resumed her washing. The curtain suddenly was torn back and Winter jumped, her back hitting the smooth stone tile of the shower.

"Listen here," the driver growled, their features all black in the dark of the house. Winter couldn't tell where one body part ended and where the next started, everything melting into shadow. "I may have rescued you but that doesn't mean I like you and it most certainly doesn't mean I will take orders from you. You may have been queen in your game, but now we're playing my game and if you want to stay alive you will follow  _my_  orders. Are we clear?" The strangers voice was a low growl and Winter felt the urge to shrink back. For the first time in a while she felt fear spark in her chest. She was used to eliciting fear in others, watching them sweat and squirm under her cold dictatorial gaze. She had stopped fearing others because they were all under her control anyways, even the White Fang. But this person here was an unknown variable, and they sure as hell did not seem scared of her.

Winter squashed down the fear in her chest and rose to her full height, seeking out what she hoped were the others eyes and looking straight into them. She dropped her hands from her chest; she wouldn't cower and hide before them. "I don't care who you are or the fact that you 'saved me'. I will crush you if you show me opposition. You will bow to me and respect me like the queen I am. And if that doesn't work for you then we can duel it out."

"Heh." Was all that awaited her, a thick smirk in the single sound. It irritated Winter to no degree. How dare they disrespect her like this!

"It seems you may be a bit slow on matters," Winter growled, coming closer to the others face. The other didn't flinch back which any sane person in this situation would have done. "But I am Winter Schnee, CEO of the biggest Dust corporation and Evil Queen of Atlas. Surely you know how I got that name. It wasn't because I was nice and cuddly. It was because I crush friends and foes alike without mercy. You don't want to mess with me." There was a long silence after this, only the sound of water hitting the floor and Winter's enraged breathing filling the air.

"It seems you're also CEO to the biggest ego in the world," was the smart response, the words digging under Winter's flesh. "You don't scare me Winter. It's you who should be scared of me." The stranger leaned closer to her ear, their hoodie brushing against Winter's wet cheek, voice a whisper. "No one knows where you are right now. It would be so easy to kill you." Their gloved hand grabbed Winter's throat and the girl gasped, surprised by the sudden move. The leather was warm on her neck and tight as she tried to swallow.

"You won't get away with threatening me," Winter promised.

The driver moved away, removing their grip on her throat. "Hurry up and finish this shower. If you're able to sling insults then you'll be able to make the trek. We can't stay here. It's too unsafe."

"Too unsafe because of you," Winter spat, refusing to let the other have the last word.

"Just finish up already," the stranger shoved the shower curtain back into place and left Winter fuming under the now ice cold water.


	4. Destined to be Last

Weiss was sitting in her office, reading over some papers when a knock came on the door, interrupting her thoughts.

"Come in," she called, getting up from her new desk and tossing her papers aside. It had been three days since the disappearance of her sister and the army hadn't been any closer to finding a single clue as to where she could have gone. It was like she had become a ghost, melting away into the night. This had worried and aggravated Weiss to no end, the young girl struggling to maintain her cool headed demeanor. She had half the mind to go out and find her herself, letting the country fall to the dogs, but as it was Weiss was needed in order to maintain some semblance of calm as the capital city was thrown in shock at the Queen's disappearance. She was needed to show that the Schnee family hadn't been broken, only made stronger.

Weiss had ascended to the throne, her ceremony still fresh in her mind as it was merely yesterday. Atlas military had been a strong presence there, Ironwood worried for the youngest's safety. Weiss wasn't as worried. Truthfully, she would have welcomed an additional return of the White Fang so that she could find out what had happened to her sister and cut them an new asshole. In fact, she dared them too.

But the White Fang didn't take the bait, leaving her public ceremony alone as the ornamental crown was slid onto her head. After it was over, Weiss had retired to the mansion so as to sort out loose ends. She had to uphold her sister's company too and it was not going to be an easy task. The transfer of power would take some time to be cemented and until then she could merely wait. In the meantime she took to seeing what was salvageable in the mansion and what would be trash. A lot of her families heirlooms had been ravished irreparably, generations of history lost to flames and explosions. She took part in the excavations herself, even as Ironwood had stressed she go to a safe house as it wasn't innocuous to be here. With the mansion obliterated there was even less protection for her. But Weiss had dismissed him, saying the White Fang would use her leaving the public scene as an advantage, showing the people that their monarch had left them and thus that the White Fang scared her and were more powerful than her.

So she was going to stay in this palace until it was rebuilt to it's former glory.

Ironwood strode into the room, four teenagers following after him. "Weiss, I have brought to you one of the strongest teams at Beacon Academy." He gestured to them as they stopped behind him, their armor shined up and clothes and hair tidy in order to make a good impression. "This is Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR." Ironwood pointed at a blonde haired blue eyed boy who had a chest plate on, his hands behind his back as he raised his chin up proudly.

"Next to him is Nora Valkyrie." An orange haired girl smiled broadly at Weiss, her energy radiating off of her. She was rocking on her toes although she was trying to remain as still and poised as her comrades.

"This is Lie Ren." A tall Asian boy with a streak of purple in his dark hair gave a small bow of his head. He stood as still as a rock next to his teammate. "And lastly we have Pyrrha Nikos, champion of the Vytal tournaments." The redhead smiled warmly, her armor more exotic looking than the others. It was gold with a red sash hanging from her hip. Weiss however did not smile, her face impassive as feelings battled within her. She did not particularly like Beacon students especially after what had happened in her years of attendance there. But she supposed it would be better to send them then some military forces who would draw too much attention. Ironwood had spoke highly of this team, saying that they had been to the Never After and survived, so Weiss had sent for them.

"They have all been briefed on the missions but I thought it would do well if you saw who it was that was going after the huntresses." Weiss nodded her head at the general's comment and approached the four members, her heels clicking harshly on the marble floors. She laced her hands together, trying to emulate her sister's imposing aura. Weiss was never as good at anything as Winter was but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try and bring her sister justice.

"I trust that you know the severity of the mission," Weiss started coolly, nodding her head slightly to let the general know he was dismissed as she talked to the team.

"Of course we do!" Nora burst out excitedly. "And we're going to give it our all! A hundred percent. No, a hundred and ten percent!" The girl cheered, her high pitched voice getting on Weiss' nerves. Her face grew a few degrees colder and most who saw it would have frozen in their tracks, but that didn't stop the orange haired girl. She was ready to spout some more words when Ren's hand descended on her shoulder shutting her up when she turned to look at him and saw him shake his head disapprovingly.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt," Nora squeaked out, ashamed, and took to toeing the lines on the floor with her boot.

"As I was saying, this mission is very important and I will not tolerate any kind of failure. My sister, the queen of this land was kidnapped by an unknown third party and I need you to go out into the wilds to secure me a hunter or huntress that  _can_  and  _will_  find the trail of my missing sibling. All the supplies and necessities you might need for the trip have already been prepared for you. I will be contacting with you regularly in order to ensure that the objectives are being met. And should there be failure," at this Weiss paused dramatically. "The Grimm will seem like saints compared to my ire."

Jaune gulped deeply at this, his bravado faltering. Pyrrha also grew a bit paler.

"Is that understood?" Weiss asked, raising her chin haughtily.

"Yes," all four said at once, clicking their heels together and giving her a salute that was reserved only for the queen.

"Good." Weiss gave a brief smile at this, if it could even be called that. "You are dismissed." Then she turned back to her paperwork, letting the team walk themselves out.

* * *

"Man, that lady sure is scary," Nora pouted, leaning heavily over the railing of the airship the group was now on. They were going to be transported to the edge of Remnant where the Never After was. The Never After was where all the Grimm came from. They pressed in from the dark corners and shadows that surrounded the world of Remnant. Centuries ago humans had constructed giant walls to keep them out. Most of these walls had fallen over the years and needed to be constantly repaired. Army members and hunters would often be stationed among the walls to prevent breaches from happening. And for those monsters that did get through, teams were sent out to stop them. But no one, no one in the past couple of decades had ever dared ventured past the walls because no one ever came back. And this was what team JNPR were going to be doing.

In order to find a hunter or huntress they had to go past the walls and to say they were scared shitless was an understatement. But they couldn't back out when Ozpin had told them of this mission. As the top team in the whole school they were expected to set examples for others. Ozpin hadn't been happy to assign this mission, knowing full well the risks associated with it. But no one dared to deny the Schnee family for fear of widespread repercussions.

So it had been with gravity and not gravitas that the team had left the academy, their close friends eyes shining with tears and concern rather than the usual mirth and excitement at a Grimm slaying mission. And Jaune as leader of the team felt the most burden fall on his shoulders. He would be responsible for thinking out plans and strategies. In short, he was responsible for all their lives and he felt overwhelmed. Other missions they had succeeded in through pure luck and the strength of his teammates. Jaune wasn't particularly good at fighting. He had always relied on them winning the battles and missions for JNPR. And now his incompetence could get them all killed as soon as they stepped foot into the woods.

He too was staring out over the railing, the flight to the Never After woods going to take a couple of days, meaning he had all this time to stress over everything and worry himself sick. Pyrrha was rubbing his back soothingly knowing that he was too stressed for words. Wordlessly she was hoping to encourage him and it was helping a bit but it didn't erase away all his unease.

"She is the queen of her land, she has to be a bit intimidating to get what she wants," Ren told Nora. He too was standing by the railing, his gaze focused on the small towns below them.

"I know but she didn't have to try to scare us like that," Nora sighed. "We're already going to do our best in the woods. She could have been nicer about it especially since it's going to be a suicide mission."

Nora's words hung heavily among the four. Even the usually cheery demeanor of Nora was damped by the fact of what they were going to face. They wordlessly stared out into the landscape. The sun was setting, washing them in red light. The ships engines rumbled on, drawing them closer to their destination.

* * *

A girl with a mane of blonde hair was sitting at a crowded bar, enjoying her sixth shot of the day. She had just come back from a successful mission. She had come into this town to hunt down a band of bandits who were robbing the folks. She had laid them out flat on their ass and given back all the money they had stolen to the townsfolk who in thanks had given her a grand feast and money to last her until her next town. She didn't do these missions for money but more to help others out. Her father had always instilled in her a strong sense of what was right and wrong before he had sent her out into the world so she could make a living. And while she hadn't been able to find a job yet, no one said she couldn't help out others who were powerless and make some money from it.

The blonde took her shot down in one breath and clanked her glass to the bar. "Give me another one!" she cried out, ready to spend some of the hard earned cash she had made. Her empty glass was taken to be refilled.

"This one's on the house," the bartender informed her. The town was small and word had gone around about her helping the villagers.

"Thanks man!" She smiled broadly, her nose a bit red from all the shots she had taken. She began to yell and whoop, laughing wildly as she began to tell bad jokes to whoever would listen at the bar next to her. It was at that moment that a swarm of bikers roared up to the bar, the noise from their engines breaching the walls and noise of the drinking folks inside. A second later a burly muscle bound man with an eye patch and grizzled beard strode into the bar, his lackies following after him. Everyone in the bar froze, cigarettes dangling out of their mouth, glasses of liquor slipping to the floor in their slack grips. No one dared to make a noise except for the blonde of course. She was humming merrily to herself, finger running the rim of her shot glass. She was envisioning all the food she would eat with her new money. Definitely lots of meat. She downed her shot.

"Where's the one who beat up my baby brother and his gang?" the intruder of the bar groused out, his fists curling in anger. Everyone's gaze slide over incriminatory to the blonde who was at the bar. She was demanding another shot from the bartender whose gaze was plastered to the buff man and his gang now in the bar.

"Oi, man, what's up with you?" The blonde waved an impatient hand in front of the skinny man's face but when he continued to ignore her she reached over the bar, grabbing the bottle herself. "Man do I have to serve myself now?" she asked, oblivious to the situation in the bar. The buff man was walking towards her, two of his close commanders right and his baby brother behind him. The blonde had just poured herself a shot which took a bit more concentration than previously. Raising the shaking and almost overflowing glass to her lips, she had just touched the liquid with her lips when a heavy hand on her back made her hand jolt and she spilled half her shot down on the table.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" she turned around, fixing them with a confused look, surprised to see a scary looking guy right behind her. She craned her neck up to appraise him before she looked behind him and the three guys next to him. For the first time she noticed how everyone was super quiet at the bar. "What's going on here?"

"What's your name," the man demanded.

"Yang?" Yang answered, raising her brow inquisitively. What did this man want from her?

"That's her! That's the bitch who roughed me up!" the smaller man behind the big guys back shouted out, pointing an accusatory finger at her. He had bruises all over his face, one eye closed over completely.

"Eh? Do I know you?" Yang asked, thoroughly confused now.

"She doesn't even remember me!" the accuser spat, his face turning red.

"Well Yang, it seems you beat up my younger brother and for that I simply cannot allow you to live!" the big man growled, straining his chest muscles until they ripped through his leather jacket, sending the material flying in pieces every which way. The men behind him roared in agreement, raising their fist up.

"Oh shit, I remember now! You're that guy I hit with my motorcycle before!" Yang shouted out, a bulb going over her head.

"No!" the smaller man shot back. "You beat me up for the townsfolk to get the money my gang stole back for them."

"Oh, that rings a bell. Yea, I remember now." Yang said, sliding off of her stool, chin in her hand. "You're the one who pissed his pants when I came after him." A grin was making it's way onto her face but it wasn't warm like her other ones. This one promised pain. She cracked her knuckles, sober in a moment.

"What-no, no-that's a lie!" spluttered the younger brother as the older one looked down at him, a question on his face. "Let's just get the bitch already."

"Yea, let's. Except, correction, I see four bitches and not one," Yang jeered and then flung out her fist catching the older brother right in the gut. Spittle flew from his mouth like a water fountain and he was flung back right out the door he had come in through. His friends and younger brother all exchanged looks with one another. They gulped deeply and then ran away.

"Hey come back here and fight her you cowards!" The younger brother yelled out after them. He turned to Yang who gave him a come hither look. He gulped too and then ran after them. "Hey, wait for me!" The three of them grabbed the bigger guys unconscious body and ran out, the rip of their motors indicating that they had left for good. There was a moment of silence before the bar erupted into cheers at Yang's victory. A hand patted her on the back.

"Shots on the house!" the bartender shouted out and Yang let out a wild whoop, turning back to the bar to get drunk. She had lost her buzz and now she was going to have to win it back.

* * *

"Whatever you do my precious, do not give up hope. You are strong and you can do this."

"But I can't!" a young silver eyed girl exclaimed. She was close to tears, brought upon her by desperation. "There's too many of them. I can't keep them all back. I'm a failure!"

"You are not a failure," the voice, feminine, reassured. "Be strong my little one. I know you can be. I'm always with you, remember that. I will always be by your side." The young girl looked around in the dark, hoping to see the speaker but it was only black as far as she could see.

"Where? Where are you? I can't see you!"

There was a light chuckle, and a soft breeze that brushed past the young girls short brown locks. "Do not lose hope," was the parting message and the young girl reached out her hands.

"No! No! Don't leave me mother!" The black span around, echoing her heartfelt plead. She closed her eyes as it got too dizzying to keep them open. Snarls of monstrous beasts, of the click and clack of their teeth and the rip of claws on flesh filled her ears. "Ruby run! And don't stop running!" Her mother's voice, laced with pain.

"Mother no, I can't leave you alone!"

"You must! Just please listen to me and do it!"

"Mother!" Ruby's cry pierced through the veil of her dream world and she was awake once more. She sat up in her hammock, breathing heavily. Weak daylight filtered in through the pine branches she had placed her hammock among.

"It was that dream again," she said to herself, slowly stretching and shaking her head to get the last bits of the horrid dream out of her head. Then she got out of the bed, making sure to carefully scale the branches down to a thicker part of the tree. If she didn't watch her step she would plunge to her death sixty feet below on the hard and unforgiving forest floor.

She had been having that dream ever since her mother's death two years ago. Ruby had been but 12 when it had happened. She had been living by herself in the wilds for the past couple of years. She badly missed her mother but there was nothing to be done about it now. If only Ruby had been stronger back then, then she could have saved her mother. As it was she had lost Summer to the Grimm, their gaping maws ripping into her piece by piece.

Trying to shake the dark thoughts out of her head, she grabbed her scythe where it laid folded up on the tree trunk before she dropped down lightly from branch to branch to the ground, grabbing her cloak off of a branch on the way, where she had stationed it overnight to dry. She put the cloak on, attaching her folded up weapon to her hip. She had no use for extending it now. Her weapon was her best friend, having been given to her by her mother years ago when she first became a huntress. She trusted and valued it immensely. She had named it Crescent Rose, in honor of her family's last name and for the shape of the moon that hung over their planet.

Judging from the sun it was barely morning which meant she had some time to get food before it was time to hunt Grimm once more. Each day was the same. Ruby would wake up, eat, kill Grimm until her arms ached and then she would wash the blood from her body, eat something and then go to sleep high up in the tree tops, moving her home each day so as not become a target for the Grimm during her slumber.

Ruby scourged through the bushes, knowing which berries were safe to eat thanks to the knowledge her mother had instilled in her. Her mother had taught her everything there was to know to survive in this world. So had the others, but now they were gone too...they had all fallen one by one during that surge in Grimm activity all those years ago. Ruby shook her head to stop thinking about this. She had to remain positive like her mother had told her to in the dreams. The fate of the world was on her shoulders.

She was the last living huntress after all.

The only one with enough power to keep the Grimm away. And even though she often felt like she was never enough she had no choice but to continue so as to save the people in the inner world. The inner world...she had never been. She wondered how it was. She wondered if they could handle the Grimm that she sometimes missed.

Ruby sat down next to a tree trunk, leaning her weapon next to her as she began to blow dirt off of the berries she had gathered. "Man Crescent Rose, some day's I want to give up. But mommy visited me in my dreams today and told me not to give up. That we can succeed." Ruby sighed as she bit down on the berries, the juice running down her chin. She waited patiently for her weapon to finish speaking.

"I know. I know I have to be strong. If I didn't have you things would definitely be much tougher." She smiled but it slowly faded away as she inclined her head to listen to her weapon."I did have the dream tonight too. Yea, it doesn't seem to be leaving any time soon. But at least I get to hear my mom once more no matter how bad of a situation it was." Ruby was silent as she popped the last berry into her mouth. She got up, dusting her skirt off. "I sense Grimm close by too. I think relaxing time is over. Time to get back into the grind."

Ruby picked up her weapon, the thing extending to it's full length. It was long, longer than her and looked cumbersome. It didn't look physically possible to wield but in her hands it was death, bringing anyone in her way down to their knees. She approached the worn down dirt path that trailed through the trees. Here the air was chillier and no light penetrated through the branches. A bone chilling howl ripped through the air, followed by a cacophony of equally as terrifying snarls and growls demanding blood and gore. For anyone who had never heard it before it would have sent them running the other way. But Ruby had woken up to and gone to bed with theses cries as her lullaby. For her, it was like listening to the wind blow through the grass.

She got closer to the source of the noise, stopping in a giant expanse of grass. A field stretched out before her, all the trees behind her. Corpses of slain Grimm lay scattered among the grass, the birds having not picked their carcasses clean yet. The sky here was a dark bruised blue, veins of red running through the heavy gray clouds. A wall of black rock, so dark it sucked up the light and color around it, stood opposite Ruby on the field. There was a giant entrance there, purple light emitting from it. The source of the noise came from it. Ruby tightened the hold on her scythe, spreading her legs further out to get a better defensive stance. The Grimm were going to come out, any second soon. She could smell them on the air. A sour stench of decay and misery.

And she was right. The Grimm came pouring out of the entrance, nearly trampling one another in their bid to escape. They were like water coming out of a faucet and it was Ruby's job to stop that flow. She couldn't even keep track of how many she slew each day, their numbers blending into one giant black mass of mass wearing beasts. All she had to make sure was as few could escape her wrath as possible.

"Alright, Crescent Rose, let's roll!" She shouted out, her cloak fluttering out behind her from the malignant wind that the Grimm carried with them. She gave her blade a small smile. "Of course I'll be careful. I always am." She launched into the fray, using her semblance to boost herself. She was a white black red blur as she sliced and diced monster's necks and whatever other body parts she could sink Crescent Rose into.

She swung and chopped and swung and blocked and swung and dodged and swung and swung. The hours of the day bleed away much like the life blood of these beasts. Only when evening had fallen on the rest of the forest did the tide of Grimm finally stop. Ruby let out a tired sigh, letting herself sink to the ground, hands propped onto her weapon that was planted firmly into the ground blade down. She sat there, regaining her breath. Her body ached, a terrible ache that ran through every limb.

But she had won again.

None of the Grimm had escaped her blade today. The blood soaking her clothes was proof of that. After she had regained her breath she got up on shaking knees, looking for a Grimm that would fulfill her desire. One of them didn't look too badly mutilated, the flesh still warm and not too fatty looking.

"Do you think this Grimm will taste good?" Ruby asked, swinging her scythe down and cutting away flesh with all the practice of a butcher. "Maybe if we're lucky it won't sour over night, so that we can have a bit of leftovers for tomorrow morning. Those berries don't really hold too well."

Ruby grunted as she scrapped meat away from the bone. Grimm flesh was dark and hard on the outside but on the inside it was pink and soft. Good for the eating once one got over the acidic and bitter taste. Ruby took off her cloak and wrapped the huge chunk of meat up in it. Then with Crescent Rose folded up and attached to her hip once more she made her way back to her camp so she could start a fire and cook this food.


	5. Destined to Try

_Two days before team JNPR visited Weiss_.

"This treatment is barbaric," Winter spat, trying to convey how much it pissed her off in words because as it was she had been stripped of her Aura, of her weapon, and now her hands were bound in front of her by rope and she was being lead as if a dog on a leash. She could no longer express her irritation in a more physical form.

The all dark clad figure in front of her merely shrugged, tugging the rope harshly, making Winter stumble under the force of the pull. They had been trekking through the woods all night and now it was midday. Winter was tired and hungry, still fatigued from her blood loss. The figure didn't seem to care, deeming it more necessary that they remain on the move than stay rested. They had been crawling through the maddening stalks of unchanging corn until they reached a patch of uncultivated land and were stuck wandering through brambles that snagged at clothes and branches that scratched and slapped their faces. Winter had tried escape several times but had failed each and every time, each encounter leaving her with bruises and bite marks. Whoever this person was they were really pissing her off. It was looking more like a deranged kidnapping than a rescue. And how dare the other put her hands on her, and then force her to be chained up like some beast?

"You will pay for putting your filthy hands on me," Winter promised, wishing nothing more than to kick down the person leading her. The figure chuckled. "I'm trying to help you but you insist on running away which will only get you killed."

"Just hours ago you threatened me with death at your own hand and now you say it's smarter to stay with you?" Winter retorted.

"The White Fang will be on the lookout for you and me. They'll be pissed off that I stole you from them so it's best if you stick with me because in the very least I can protect you."

"I would be able to protect myself if you didn't strip me of my powers." Winter didn't know how the driver had got her hands on a Aura suppressing Schnee weapon, as those were locked up, not even ever coming close to being released on any market for they were too crippling to those who had been affected. A warrior whose aura had been damaged was as good as dead in a fight. It explained why Winter's aura hadn't come in to heal her back when she had tried her escape form the car. It had been dampened.

The driver gave a huge sigh. "Look, just shut up and follow me. I promise I will answer all your burning questions only once we reach the safe house."

"And how much further is that?" Winter said, her steps faltering as a dizzy spell over took her. It was getting harder and harder to force her limbs to work but she would not be seen as weak. She had already been carried once by the other, shaming her deeply now that she thought back to it. She should have been able to carry herself no matter how much blood had leaked from her body.

"If someone hadn't wrecked my car we would have been there yesterday, but as it is, we still have hours to go."

"Great," Winter groaned, suddenly stopping and bending over as a wave of nausea hit her. She took deep steadying breaths, trying to focus on the back of her hands and on how dirty they were again due to all the traveling she had done. The rope tugged on them for her to move but she wouldn't, really needing to sit down. How come the other was still fine and she was here suffering? There was another tug and then sigh from the figure. Fingers wrapped around her and Winter was once more in their arms.

"Put me down," Winter protested weakly, her body sinking into strong arms gratefully despite herself. She tried to pound against the drivers chest but they grimaced, ignoring her. "If I do you'll only slow us down more," was their response and they set off, nimbly moving through the shrubbery.

 _Well there goes my last bit of pride,_ Winter thought dryly and let her her head hit the others chest, falling asleep before she could help it to the soft walking motion.

* * *

_After Weiss meet team JNPR._

"Well this sucks big time," Nora announced, a bit too cheerily for their situation.

"Tell me about," Jaune sighed. The airship they had been flying in had broken down and they had to stop in a town miles away from their destination while they waited for repairs. "How long is it going to take?" he asked the one of the mechanics next to him.

The mechanic wiped his hands on a dirty rag. "Well, the engine burst, engulfing the whole engine room into flames. I'm surprised you guys were able to land safely with how it was. Given the extent of the damage I would say three days at least."

"Three days?" Nora squeaked out. "We don't have three days. We were supposed to be there by today's night!"

The mechanic shrugged. "It's not my fault. Sorry."

"That's alright. Thank you," Ren bowed his head, pulling back an aggravated Nora by the shoulder as the team left the ship behind.

"What do we do now?" Prryha asked once they had sat down on a bench in front of the repair shop. There was a man sitting on the bench next to them who looked to be asleep. They ignored him as they pondered their problem.

"We could walk to the wall," Jaune suggested. The top of the massive stone wall was visible even from here and if they walked straight it shouldn't be too far to get to it.

"It could get complicated," Ren pointed out. "There are several towns in between not to mention mountain passes and forests to navigate. It might take us more time to walk there then if we were to wait for the ship."

"Not if you have a guide."

"That's a great idea Jaune!" Nora cheered, pumping her hands into the air.

"Uh," Jaune waved his hands in front of his face. "I didn't say that."

"I did." All four turned around to see who had spoken up. It was the old man who they thought had been asleep. "You four kids need to get to the wall, I know a person, although I have no clue why you would even want to go there in the first place. The place is dangerous."

"Yea, we're just um, tourists. It's for a school project," Jaune ruffled the back of his messy hair as he lied.

"Who is this person? We would like to meet them. They might be able to know of a way to get their quicker," Pyrrha added when she saw Ren open his mouth to say something else.

"I can take you to them. Their a traveler so their very familiar with this area not to mention their good with navigation and are handy in a fight."

"That sounds promising," Jaune mussed.

"Alright, lead the way mister!" Nora jumped off the bench, clapping her hands in excitement.

* * *

"Grahhh!" A buff, tan man of six feet was seated at a table, the veins in his arm and forehead bulging out as he struggled in the arm wrestling competition.

"Come on Tom, is that the best you got?" Yang goaded. "Even my grandma has more strength than that. You're putting men everywhere to shame." Her elbow was propped up on the table, Tom's meaty hand encapsulating hers. He was trying to push her hand down, his skin breaking out into a sweat from exertion but it had barely budged at all and Yang looked refreshed, not a single ounce of struggle on her face.

"Come on Tom, don't let her get to you!"

"Yea Tom, she's just a girl!" Spectators surrounding the small wooden table cheered. Yang had challenged the town's strongman, saying if she won then she would get an all she could eat buffet at the local steakhouse which was known for their fine cuts of meat.

"Yea Tom, I'm just a girl. If this is all the town's best has to offer it's really a shame," Yang joined in on the trash talking. Tom's only response was a grunt. He was putting all his concentration into defeating her, no resources left over for talking to her.

This was the scene that team JNPR walked into, following the old man into a dingy smoke filled bar. "Yang. Yang!" the old man called out and the blonde looked up into his direction, the crowd parting to spit him out and his four travelers.

"Hey Barry," she greeted, a sunny smile on her face. "What's up?"

"I bought some youngsters that could use your help," he explained. He jerked a thumb back in the kids direction who gave her a range of waves: an awkward one from Jaune, a friendly one from Pyrrha, an exuberant one from Nora and a respectful one from Ren.

"Are you Yang?" Pyrrha asked for clarification purposes. "The wandering adventurer?"

"That's me!" Yang pointed at herself with her free hand. "What do you guys need? Some baddies beat up? A lost cat found? A vendetta evened? Anything and everything, I do!"

"It's nothing like that. We just need an escort from this town to the wall."

Yang's eyebrows rose up high on the tall Asian boy's words. "To  _that_  wall?"

"Yea," Ren reaffirmed.

Yang pursed her lips. "Alright. Let's talk about this somewhere quieter." With a single flex of her bicep she pushed down Tom's hand with a loud smack to the table, nearly splitting it in half. A chorus of groans and disappointment came from the crowd. Yang got up, wiping her hand on her shirt. "You owe me food," she pointed at the owner of the steakhouse who threw his cap to the floor angrily before stomping on it.

The four plus Yang left the bar going out into the quieter street, dusk coloring the streets a mirade of reds and oranges. "So the wall, huh." She brought her hand to her chin in contemplation. "I usually avoid that place but if you guys need to go there I'll take you there."

"We would be grateful for that. How much is the payment?" Pyrrha asked. They had been given bags of Lien for the journey by Weiss. They did not mind spending it to get to the wall quicker.

"Well I don't normally charge money for helping others, just food and a place to sleep but~ if you're offering, how about 10 thousand Lien."

"For the journey there?"

"No, per person. Per day." Yang added.

"That's kind of a hefty amount," Ren sweat dropped and Jaune motioned for the team to huddle so that they could discuss this. Yang stood out the circle, watching them with a raised brow. She could hear everything they were saying so she didn't know why they even bothered to huddle.

"Should we take the offer?" the blonde haired boy asked. "We have cash but what if we need it for something else?"

"And can we even trust her? We've only come to her on the recommendation of that old man," Ren added.

"Well, I think she's trustworthy and cool!" Nora chipped in. "Did you see the size of the guy she beat in the arm wrestling competition? She's super strong."

"Nora is right. Yang is strong, so she could be an assist if we run into any trouble on the way." Pyrrha said. "And I wish I could know if we can trust her, but we won't know until we go with her."

Jaune nodded his head. As leader of the group it was his choice to make. They broke the circle and approached her once more. "We'll take your help. Just get us there in one piece and the money is all yours."

"Half upfront?" Yang asked, sticking out her hand to shake on it. The blonde haired boy hesitated momentarily. "Half," he conceded and took her hand. They shook on it, her hold nearly crushing his hand.

"Now that that's settled why don't you guys get some rest. We're leaving tomorrow, at the crack of dawn."

"How quickly can you get us there?" Pyrrha asked as the big blonde walked away towards the direction of the steakhouse. "Two days," the blonde answered confidently. Then she walked off, disappearing into some building. The team exchanged a look with one another.

"At least she's faster than waiting on the airship," Jaune shrugged, wondering if the purchase would be worth it. "Wait, where are we going to meet up with her? She never gave us a location!" Panic began to creep into his voice. "We need to go after her."

"I think we need to talk to Weiss first," Pyrrha notified, taking out her scroll. There was an incoming call. None of them wanted to pick it up. "So who wants to tell her the bad news?"

"Not me!" all of them shouted out except for Jaune, who was a second late.

"Ah damn!" he cursed his luck and plucked the phone out of the redhead's hand angrily. Clearing his throat he spoke. "Hello Weiss."

"Mr. Arc, how goes the expedition," the cool, crisp tones of Weiss's voice came in through the scroll and Jaune tried not to shiver. How she could sound so cold was beyond him, even when she was being neutral. It made her seem inhumane.

"We've uh, run into some problems," he stammered, his voice slightly cracking. He rubbed the back of his head, worried what she would say next.

"What did you say?"

He couldn't tell if she was pissed or not, her voice remaining at the same level it had been at before.

"The airship we were on, it, well it crashed, and now we have to wait for repairs. We won't have the repairs done until three days time...so we won't make it in time to the wall for today." Jaune trailed off, waiting for Weiss to explode on him. Instead he heard her sigh and mutter something about running the industry who had made those airships out of business.

"But, uh, don't worry," Jaune waved his free hand wildly. His teammates looked on at him, worried for what the princess- current Queen, since she had recently ascended to the throne before they had arrived at her mansion- would have them do now. "We found someone who can get us to the wall. So we're going to walk there. And it'll only take us two days time."

Weiss did not sound pleased about this. "Are there no airships or other modes of transportation in that town?"

"...not really," Jaune shrugged. He hadn't thought to look for any, just pouncing on the idea of having the wandering traveler helping him. He did know for certain that there wasn't much in the way of airships, otherwise they wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place. They would have boarded another one, or at least the repairs could have gone faster.

Another sigh from Weiss and Jaune could tell that the Queen was trying to hold back her icicle sharp words of disappointment from stabbing into them. "Very well. I will contact you in two days time once you arrive at the wall. And it better be only two days time, am I clear?"

"Yes!" Jaune squeaked out and the line went dead.

"What did she say?" Nora asked as soon as Jaune took the scroll away from his ear.

"She wasn't happy but she understood the situation. I hope," Jaune said as an afterthought. "Anyways, I think we should check out the town while we're here and see if there are other ways to travel besides airship."

"Good idea," Pyrrha nodded her head. "I can do that."

"I can also do that," Ren offered.

"Good, that leaves me and Nora with the task of finding a place to sleep for the night and every map we can get our hands on of this place and the land beyond it. I'll also get our gear from the ship. And when we're done let's meet back here." Jaune indicated to the small plaza they were in. The team all nodded their head in confirmation and headed out to do their respective tasks.

The town was small, so the team didn't have too much trouble navigating it. Pyrrha and Ren were able to find out that the only way in or out of this village was by horseback as the town was high up, situated on a bunch of smaller mountains. The paths to and fro from the city were narrow and rocky. Only good for small cargo to pass on. And since the town was so small, it wasn't on the transportation line of the airships. They would either have to walk their way to the nearest city and hope for better transport there, or ride on horseback there. And no one on the team other than Pyrrha could ride a horse.

Jaune and Nora in the meantime found a nice inn for them to stay in. One with good food, which Nora stressed was very important. Lugging their gear back to the room they had rented, they then met up with the rest of their team.

"What's the news?" Jaune asked his team members and they briefly debriefed on their discoveries. "I guess we will have to really rely on this Yang person if we want to get anywhere. Sadly I couldn't find any maps that were sufficient for our journey." Jaune shook his head in disappointment.

"Then let's have dinner and rest for the night. We will have to get up early tomorrow." Pyrrha suggested and the team went to the inn, making sure to eat in the dinning room. Nora practically flew in the direction of the buffet table, carrying back three plates to her table. Ren, Jaune and Pyrrha had smaller, daintier meals, not having much of an appetite as they thought back to their mission objective once more.

"Do you really think that we'll find someone in those woods?" Pyrrha asked as she toyed with the green peas on her plate.

"I don't know," Jaune answered honestly. "I don't see how anyone could survive living in those woods. They're completely inhabitable, if the Grimm don't provide enough obstacle as it is." Jaune wanted to reassure his teammate but he knew there was no point in false assurances. They had all been in the Never After woods. They knew what it was like in there. And now they would have to be in there again but for who knows how long.

"I think we have to be hopeful," Nora said around her mouthful of meat. She was trying to cheer everyone up. "I believe that those children's stories weren't just stories. They had to be true in some regard. Every legend has a hint of truth to it."

"But it's been years, Nora. Even if there was truth to it, if anyone was there they would have been dead by now." Ren cast the group into sober thought once more. Even Nora was a tad affected but she quickly shook her head and squashed her cheeks together. "Stop being such a negative Nancy, Ren," she said and leaned over the table to put a plop of mashed potatoes on his nose which he quickly wiped off. "If there's no one there then that's fine. And all that will have mattered is that we tried our darnest to find them. And if someone is there, then think about how cool it will be to have meet them!" Nora than launched into talking about the ranges of abilities the hunters and huntresses of those days had. Soon everyone was engaged in it, trying to prove their own beliefs in one way or another. And the topic of the Never After died down.

At nine pm, they made their way up to the room and when Jaune cracked open the door, he realized they had a bit of an issue. Nora had booked a room for them that only had twin beds. Which meant that the team would have to share beds. Jaune immediately deduced that he wanted to spend the night with a male and spare himself the embarrassment of having to share a bed with a girl. But his plans were foiled when Nora jumped on the bed by the window and declared that she was sharing the bed with Ren since they were childhood friends. And Ren did not dispute the point. Which meant Jaune and Pyrrha were sharing the bed.

"I can, uh, sleep on the floor if you want," Jaune offered, feeling a tad uncomfortable. Nora and Ren had already moved to get changed, Nora loudly declaring her right to the bathroom first while Ren patiently waited for her to be done, not raising argument with her.

"No, NO!" Pyrrha hastened to correct the situation, realizing she sounded a bit too loud and like she was trying to cover up something, so she cleared her throat and smiled gently at Jaune. "We can share the bed. It is fine with me." She could feel his discomfort from here and she didn't want to aggravate it.

"Uh, okay," Jaune relented. Any more argument past this and it would seem like he did not like Pyrrha or just come off as rude. He changed into his pjs and she did too, each teen having some time in the bathroom to do so. The lights were turned off and Jaune slide into the bed, keeping a respectful distance from Pyrrha. She had the same idea, as she kept to her edge of his bed and he to his. There was so much space in between them that a third person could have easily fit. But they chose not to move any closer, almost falling off of the edge but not daring to move inwards.

Nora and Ren in the meantime were a bit more comfortable. Well, Nora was. She had taken up nearly half the bed, impressive for someone with her small stature. Her arms and legs were spread out like she was free falling and she had pushed poor Ren to the edge of the bed, forcing him to cuddle in on himself. But he didn't seem to mind, used to this after years of Nora sleeping over with him.

Eventually all the team members drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The team spent the night in the inn room, setting an alarm on their scrolls for the crack of dawn, worried about how they would find the blonde. They shouldn't have worried. She barged into their room just as they had woken up. Jaune let out a squeak and tried to cover up his bare chest with a pillow as she strode in.

"Good morning!" She greeted.

"Good morning!" Nora called back with the same amount of exuberance.

"Are you all ready to go?" Yang was dressed up already, a pack on her back that looked humongous, dwarfing her. It was probably very heavy. Yet she stood up straight.

"Give us a moment to get dressed," Pyrrha said as she slide out of bed, putting down her weapon back on the night stand, since she had grabbed it in defense when Yang had busted the door open. She rubbed her eyes and stretched as Nora ran around, gathering her clothes and putting them on in a blur. Ren slowly climbed out of the bed he had shared with Nora and rubbing his eyes, warned Nora to slow down. "You're putting your clothes on wrong," he reprimanded, stopping her by the shoulder and fixing her jacket which she had put on backwards.

"Thanks, Ren," she said with a smile.

"I'll give you guys ten minutes to get ready. And then we gotta go because if we don't then we won't make it in two days time." Yang slammed the door shut behind her, stomping down stairs. Could the girl not do anything quietly? Jaune wondered as he set his pillow back down and went to get dressed. They made sure to take their stuff with them before they headed downstairs and found Yang at the table, scarfing down a plate of food. There were four other plates around her, heaped with food. Jaune wondered how the food piles managed to stay upright without tipping over.

"You got us food," Pyrrha noted brightly as the team sat around Yang at the table. The blonde looked up, fork halfway to her mouth. "Huh?" she asked, paused in her activities of eating. It took her a moment to register what had been said. "Oh, no," she smiled. "This is all for me." Then she shoved the fork into her mouth and chewed loudly, herding the spread out plates closer to her with one sweeping motion of her free hand.

"Oh," Pyrrha said, a bit disappointed that she had jumped to conclusions.

"You eat just as much as me! Holy apples!" Nora got halfway out of her seat in excitement. "We are going to get along just well." Then she got out of her seat following after Ren who had gotten up to get some food. "Did you see her eating Ren. Finally I found a food buddy."

"Yes, Nora, good for you," Ren said in a voice lacking emotion.

Yang had chosen to ignore Nora's enthusiastic comment, still focused on shoveling as much food down her throat as she could.

Pyrrha and Jaune also got up to get food and by the time they returned Nora and Ren had sat back down and Yang had finished all her plates of food, having lifted them up and scrapping the food down right into her mouth. She let out a huge belch.

"Wow and you eat super fast too!" Nora was really impressed by the wanderer's skills. "I only wish I could eat that fast. Did you see how fast she ate?" Nora turned to Ren on the last part and shook the boy's arm. This was the arm he was using to bring some eggs up to his mouth and her actions caused soggy bits of them to fly off his plate and into Pyrrha's cup of water.

"Sorry," Ren mumbled to Pyrrha, who simply fished the eggs out and gave a 'no harm, no foul' smile.

"Yea, I can eat super fast," Yang said, crossing her arms over her chest proudly. "I had to learn because as a traveler you never know when you might have to eat quickly and be on the run. Same goes for eating a lot. You never know when your next meal is."

Nora was impressed by this. "You would have made a great Beacon student!"

"Bacon student?" Yang questioned, raising a brow. She could go for some more bacon. The one at this inn was pretty good.

"No, Beacon. The school for aspiring hunters and huntresses. It's the best place to be. We all go there. And we get to go on awesome adventures because of it." Nora threw out her arms, bumping Ren's shoulder and causing the boy's forkful of eggs to go flying again, this time onto Pyrrha's plate.

"Sorry," he mumbled to the red head who moved the eggs aside from her food with a precise knife cut and smiled reassuringly once more at him.

"And we get to go to classes and learn things about Grimm and how to fight them and stuff," Nora continued. "And we make lots of good friends there."

"So it's like a school?" Yang asked, genuinely interested now. "I've never been to school. I never exactly had the time to do so. Or the money to pay for it."

"You should totally check it out afterwards. You look pretty strong so I bet they would accept you with no issue. And there's no entrance fee. It's free."

Yang nodded her head at Nora's suggestion. "I'll look into it. I'm not too keen on sitting in a class all day, but I do like adventures. I wouldn't mind going on special ones where I get to slay Grimm. Say, do you get paid for it?" Yang leaned over her stack of plates to look at Nora intensely.

Nora just as intensely looked back at her. "You bet that you don't! All you get in exchange for it is an unlimited supply of food, housing and the gift of eternal friendship!" At this she grabbed Ren by the shoulder and pulled him in closer to her, startling his forkful of eggs for the third time. This time his eggs landed on his lap with a wet plop and he simply decided that today he shouldn't eat any eggs.

Yang rubbed her chin at this. "No money, huh? But would I have a job once I finished this place?"

"Def! You'd be a hero!"Nora raised her heads towards the heavens.

"Nora, don't overexaggerate," Ren chided, taking the napkin Pyrrha offered him and wiping up the eggs from his crotch.

"So, is that the reason why you four are here? For some sort of mission by the school?"

"Not only a mission by the school, but one by the Queen of Atlas. She lost her-" at this Ren casually slipped a breakfast baguette into Nora's mouth, shutting her up. "We're here because of our school. We need to get to the wall to get into the Never After." He finished for Nora, hoping that Yang wouldn't finding it odd that he had shut the orange haired girl up.

"The Never After!" Yang nearly spat out the sip of water she had taken. She slammed her glass on the table, startling Jaune who was sitting in front of her and almost making him drop his fork and knife. "Is your school insane? That's a suicide mission."

"We're doing it for the good of the people. To help someone who really needs our aid. It's the job of hunters and huntresses after all."

Yang contemplated this for a bit. It sounded a bit what she did. She helped others out, for money of course, or any other sorts of rewards. And she had faced plenty of risks and situations were she was easily in peril and in danger of losing her life if not at least a limb. Now Yang was sort of curious about what was so important that the team was heading into the woods. And maybe, just maybe, she was curious about going into them as well. She had heard tales of horror of that place and so she had avoided it, the fear of it drilled into her head from a young age by her father. But she was no longer a small weak girl, easily frightened or hurt.

"Then you've come to the right person. I'll keep you safe, so that you can complete your task." Yang jerked a thumb to herself, smiling widely.

"You said you can get us there in two days time. How will we be going there?" Jaune picked this time to interject his question.

"The only way out is by horseback-"

"None of us can ride, except for me," Pyrrha commented while Nora smiled. "I love horses. Let's use them!"

"Then the only way is to walk. Which is what I figured would happen. So that's why I said it would take two days time."

"Not to be rude Ms. Yang, but it would take us far longer than two days by walking to reach that wall," Ren said, finally able to get some eggs into his mouth without Nora bothering him. He was using his left hand to eat, the attempts a bit clumsy as he rarely used that hand to eat.

"It'll take us two days to walk to the nearest town. And from there I can get us a transport to the wall," Yang smoothly explained.

"Do you happen to have any maps of the area?" Pyrrha asked. "We'd like a copy in case we get separated.

"Sorry, no copies," Yang pointed at her head. "The map is in my head. I've been around that area long enough that I know it like the back of my hand. In fact, I've been nearly everywhere in upper Vale."

Noting that the team was now done with their meals, she stood up, cracking her back. "I guess it's time we got going."

The team stood up as well, Jaune throwing some Lien on the table to cover the meal and putting on their bags, they followed Yang out. The sun had barely risen and so it was a bit chilly in the day. "Before I forget," Yang said, turning around and crossing her arms behind her head. She was walking backwards and talking to the four who were following her. "Can I have the cash we agreed upon upfront?"

"Sure," Jaune fumbled in his pockets, nearly having forgotten about that part of the deal. Yang accepted the stack of bills, turning around the right way and counting them out as she walked. Once she made sure it was the agreed upon amount, she turned to face them once more. "I just realized I never asked your names and since we're going on a trek together I figured it might be good to know them."

"I'm Nora!" Nora introduced herself before she tugged on Ren's arm, pulling the taller boy down to her height so she could squish his cheeks together. "And this is Ren. My bestest friend in the whole world."

"Hi," Ren said, his eyes looking very unamused.

"I'm Pyrrha," the red haired girl modestly said, thumbing the straps of her back bag.

"I'm Jaune," the blonde haired boy said.

"He's our leader!" Nora added and Jaune shot her a look that said he did not agree with her saying that to Yang.

"The leader, huh. Then I can expect to be consulting with you a lot. Alright, nice to meet you all. Now let's save our breath for the walk, we're going to need it."

"I can talk and walk, no problem," Nora said. "The walking talking machine. Everyone calls me that."

"Nora, no one calls you that," Ren pointed out tiredly. She ignored him.

Yang merely let out a chuckle, tinged with forshadowing. "We'll see how you fair during this trip."

By the time they had walked three hours Nora's ceaseless chatter had become a steady stream of halfhearted mumbles. In fact, all the team members were tired and out of breath. Yang had taken them through shortcuts to get to the other town. These shortcuts included trekking through woods and more woods, with the woods consisting of more hills and valleys than trees. They were all sweaty and gross and wished they could rest. But Yang pressed on, whistling cheerfully to herself. She had a bounce in her step and was sweat and grime free whereas the people walking behind looked like they had just come back from a mud wrestling competition.

"How much farther?" Pyrrha questioned, trying not to wince as she yet another rock found its way into her shoe. Maybe they should have risked those horses after all.

"Only ten more hours before our first rest stop and-holy crap what happened to you guys?" Yang had glanced over her shoulder and seen the bedraggled state of her customers for the first time. "You guys looks terrible. What happened?"

All four shrugged haplessly in unison, too tired to explain in words about how they had fallen down the cliff they had been descending. "Man, I thought you guys would be fine, cause you go to that fancy fighting school, but I guess they don't teach you life skills like how to hike." She scratched her head. "Looks like I'll have to be more careful with you all. Let's break." She sat down right in the middle of where she had been walking and the four collapsed to the ground as soon as she said break. They sat there panting and taking out their bottles of water.

She watched them as they slowly drew strength once more. They were asking each other questions about their energy status and the likes; even the way they interacted physically towards one another belied their concern for one another. Yang felt a twinge of loneliness. For all her traveling she had not found someone she could call her friend. Someone that she could trust with her life. As long as she could remember, she had only herself to trust on the long winding journeys.

Feeling momentarily glum, she tugged the scarf she wore around her face closer, so that it covered her mouth and nose, allowing her to drink in it's scent. It no longer smelled like her father; it had stopped doing so years ago. But it was the only thing he had given her before she had embarked on her journey to find work so she could send money back home because he was sick and could no longer work.

She pushed the memory of her sick father lying in bed away as she got up. "Time to get moving again. We can take five minute breaks every three hours until we reach our first official longer break. Then we can eat and nap."

The team got back up to their feet, Jaune grunting as his sore legs reminded him sharply of their soreness. He sure hoped that they could get to that break spot soon. His team already needed a longer rest than five minutes but they didn't want to seem weak in front of Yang, so they moved on without any complaint.

And they would keep moving on because they couldn't fail this mission, they couldn't fail the school, and they couldn't fail the trust Ozpin had given them.


	6. Destined Ice Melted by Fire

Weiss was almost done with her business in the old mansion, the one that had been ruined by the White Fang's attack. She was going to move into a smaller mansion, one that the sister's used for holding private meetings with business leaders or for escaping from one another when they had a particularly rough row. All she had to do was ensure that the movers took all the valuables she could salvage to the vault properly. She was watching them right now, as they made a beeline to the row of trucks waiting for them. She was making sure none of them ran away with the goods. Her family heirlooms were expensive to those who wanted to buy them but to her they were priceless, the vestiges of family members long gone. Weiss's guards stood watching her, some on the roof and others on the ground ten feet away from her. While the White Fang had remained silent for the past four days after the kidnapping of the former Queen, security had been stepped up. Silence from a rebel group was never good. It meant they were planning something.

The click clack of heels on the patio Weiss was standing on indicated the arrival of Weiss's now personal adviser and helper.

"They know better than to steal your family's heirlooms. They know you would hunt them down for it without mercy," was the amused female voice.

Weiss didn't take her eyes off the line of workers even though the urge to look at the person next to her was intense. She was as beautiful as the crowned jewels on Weiss's grandfather's crown which was now being handled by the movers. And she shone almost as bright as them, if not more. "I like to be careful. Meticulous. The people I hired have already betrayed me once. I do not trust them to not do so again."

"Is that why you are so much on edge?" The voice now carried concern in it.

Weiss nodded her head curtly, careful that the crown on her head didn't slide off. She still wasn't used to wearing it, the weight of it suffocating. How had her sister ever worn it before her? She could feel the weight of her nation's sufferings and of it's sins in the twisted silver gold of the crown. It's blue diamonds were the tears that her people had shed at the hands of generation after generation under the Schnee family's rule. Weiss knew her family had been hated. She had experienced that hate first hand when she had gone to Beacon. Nothing she did was ever good enough. Her motives behind her acts of kindness were always doubted and no one trusted her to not back stab them. So she had thrown away her kindness and back stabbed them just like they expected her to. She would become the Schnee that everyone thought her to be. Cunning, ruthless, and cold. Just like her older sister before her had become this calculating monster of a person, so would Weiss, if that was what her family legacy demanded her to be.

And wearing this crown, she had never been more aware of all the cruelty that the Schnee family had dealt upon it's nations people than now.

"Do not worry. There must have been some mishap in the system. We will find it. And if there was a traitor in the midst, then we will find them as well. And I personally shall deal with them." Weiss's adviser's voice was rough, anger burning it.

"Then can I leave this in your capable hands? Can you find me the person responsible for this?" Weiss turned to look at her adviser, the woman's one ember eye burning with determination and choler.

"I will," was the heated promise.

Weiss let a small smile grace her lips. This woman had been her family's adviser for years, although adviser was only her surface title. A facade that she played. For the Schnee family used her abilities for a wide range of things. She was talented in espionage, in finding out information, in fighting, in giving sound advice, and most importantly she was a killer, one that left no trace of her target. Above all that she was insanely loyal to the family as they had rescued her from the slums when she was younger.

Weiss had heard the story many times. Her father, Jacques, who was king at the time, in a show of good will to appease his people had adopted the daughter of a rival nation's deceased leader. She was but three at the time and her family had lost it's kingdom to barbarians. Jacques had swooped in, saving the kingdom from the brutes. But it had been too late for most of the royal family and she alone had been left. So Jacques had done the only thing that made sense in the face of the accusations that he had hired those barbarians to rid the kingdom of it's ruler who had been giving Jacques trouble with land rights. He had adopted the child of the late king and raised her. He had her trained and when she got to be old enough he sent her on missions to help his kingdom. Eventually she became his trusted adviser, giving sound advice on what deals to make or break.

If she was even aware of her past she did not mention it and did not dare to find out who her parentage was. She merely served loyally. And when the King and Queen had been doubly assassinated, she had become Winter's adviser, doing her best to support the new grieving Queen. It only made sense that she would now work for Weiss once the crown had passed down to her.

Weiss turned away from her adviser's promise, watching the mover's once more. They were almost done. "I'll see you at the mansion at breakfast, Cinder."

That was Cinder's cue to leave, the sound of her heels leaving getting quieter with each step until they were gone. Weiss had no doubt that Cinder would find the culprit by breakfast time come tomorrow. Cinder would have probably had results days ago if she wasn't swamped with helping Weiss with the crowning ceremony and in getting everything organized for Weiss's transfer of power in both country and company. Weiss would have her answers come morning, along with her cup of tea, she was sure of it.

* * *

Winter was awoken by a cold shiver across her body. Cracking her eyes open she found herself lying on a bed, tied to the bedpost by her wrists, the rope holding her hands taunt above her. They were sore from having been held in that position all night and she reflexively pulled on the rope even though she knew it wouldn't budge. She gave a glance to see the state of the room she was in and was satisfied to see that it was definitely cleaner than the last bedroom she had been in, the artificial lighting showing that while sparse furniture wise, it looked taken care of. There were no windows in room, so it was impossible to tell what time it was by looking outside, as it was also impossible to tell what location she was in. Winter wondered where she was this time and a cold shiver running through her body again made her look down and she realized just how naked she was. With the exception of her blue underwear, that is.

An angry blush settled on her cheeks. Had the driver stripped her? How dare they do that! She swore that if they had done anything weird to her body she would skin them alive! She would never let them get away with it. She growled, tugging on her rope but it held tight and she could do little but kick her legs and arch her back in an effort to move. Her sore muscles groaned in protest and she quickly gave up as her stomach reminded her it was time to eat and that if she didn't she wouldn't have the strength to do anything.

As if summoned by Winter's stomach, the driver came into the room with a bowl of warm soup. Chicken by the smell of it. Winter's stomach gurgled appreciatively and she cursed it for making these embarrassing noises. She was a Queen damn it! Yet she couldn't control her own stomach.

"I see you've awakened," the driver said by way of greeting, setting the bowl down on the night stand by Winter's bed.

"And I see you've undressed me," Winter retorted back, death glaring the driver. The driver had taken off their hood, allowing Winter to now meet the steady amber gaze of a young girl. Young she was, with pale features and dark hair like spilled ink coming down her shoulders, but her eyes were old, telling of countless horrors she had come upon. They were robbed of their innocence, something that Winter knew too well about. Her own eyes had lost their youthful spark, replaced by steel and anger and contempt for anyone that was not her.

"I only did so that I could clean your wound." She pointed with a slender finger at the bandaged ribs. "Also you stunk, so I cleansed your skin. I would have waited for you to wake up, but I recalled how last time you did not want to sleep in your own blood and sweat so I decided to do you a small mercy."

This did not make Winter feel better. She only felt angered that this person told her she stunk. The audacity! "And why should you care about my sleep preferences. You don't much care to treat me humanely." She tugged on her wrists for emphasis.

"Those ropes are there for your own safety. I could not risk you running away while I was making food. You could have run into danger." Her gaze was unapologetic.

"The only danger around is you!" Winter couldn't help from spitting out. Her discomfort at being so vulnerable in front of this stranger was unnerving her. She had no powers, no weapon, no aura and no clothes!

The driver shrugged, her face indifferent. "Say what you will but it is only because of me that you are alive. The White Fang would have killed you."

"What?" Winter could not help the word from coming out. She and Adam had an agreement to work together beneficially under the guise that one hated the other. Why would he have wanted to kill her? And what about Weiss? Did he want to kill her too?

The driver sensed Winter's tinge of fear and sighed. "Adam is a volatile man. He is not afraid to get his hands dirty if it means getting what he thinks is best for the faunus."

Winter frowned at this. How did this person know who Adam was? The man wore a mask to protect his identity in public. Only those he made deals with knew his real name and his face. Was this person actually working for the White Fang and keeping Winter here as prisoner? Or maybe she had done some crime against the White Fang and was trying to clean her slate by offering them Winter? But if the second option was the case, then why would she steal Winter directly from the gang? It wouldn't be a good idea.

"I shall ask again, who are you and what do you want from me?" Winter tried to look as demanding as possible given her nearly nude state and the spatter of her stomach making weird noises now and then. She had hoped that by seeing the stranger's face she would have been able to tell who they were. But she had never seen them before. Their face was a blank slate to her.

The driver sighed. "I suppose I do owe you some sort of truth if you are to trust me. I'll get you some clothes and then you can eat. I know you are hungry." They let a smirk grace their lips as Winter's stomach made another growl. Winter's face flushed so hard at that that she could feel the blush coming down her neck.

"Just get me the clothes will you!" She shouted at the figure's retreating back.

"Yes, princess," they threw over their shoulder.

"It's Queen!" Winter's shrill shriek was greeted by laughter as the door closed.

The stranger came back moments later holding a pair of comfy sweats and a t-shirt. They looked to belong to her and they definitely smelled like her, of blackberries and incense. Winter had refused to put them on at first. She was disgusted. Who even wore sweats? She had never worn such atrocities ever! But when the stranger reminded Winter that it was either the clothes or walking around naked, Winter had acquiesced. Given the situation she didn't have much choice. And if she had to survive it she would do whatever she could so she could go back to saving her sister.

Once the stranger had untied Winter from the bedpost the queen put the clothes on. The dark haired woman then handed Winter the bowl of soup which she turned her nose up on. "It's probably poisoned or spiked with something," she insisted and the woman had sighed once more. "How does anyone deal with you?" she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Don't eat if you don't want to. But I'd really rather you didn't starve."

"So then prove to me that it's fine to eat," Winter calmly said, crossing her arms over her chest in taunt.

The dark haired woman picked the spoon up, put a spoonful of soup in her mouth and swallowed it down, all with exaggeration to show that nothing was wrong with it. "Open your mouth so I can ensure that you've swallowed it down."

The other woman rolled her eyes and opened her mouth, showing that it was indeed empty. "Now I just have to wait for any side effects..." Winter said and the stranger let out a growl. "Are you fucking kidding me?" she shoved the bowl of soup into Winter's hands almost making it spill all her new clothes. "Just eat it."

Then the woman stalked away and left an angry Winter behind. How dare she tell her what to do! Still, maybe it was safe to eat. After all the stranger hadn't killed Winter so far. She didn't look like the killing type. But then again Winter had seen those she didn't think could kill, kill. Like Cinder, her personal assistant during her reign. The woman had been in on Winter's dirtiest secrets, helping her commit some of them. Winter would never ever be able to get the sight of Cinder killing her victims ever out of her mind. The first time she had seen it, she had thrown up. The woman had burned the person by using her semblance, melting them into a puddle of goo. All that had been left was a couple of stains, quickly wiped up, and the lingering smell of burnt flesh.

How Cinder could deal with that, Winter didn't know. She herself had been plagued by nightmares for nights on end about the death of that poor man. During those nights Winter felt hot, as if feverish and delirious. And sick. She had been loathe to see Cinder in those months, dreading to work with the other. But Winter had found out that the more she saw of Cinder in action on the field and during interrogations, then the more she got used to it. She eventually even found the scent of smoke and ash that clung to Cinder very soothing, especially after she had disposed of someone. It meant that another enemy of Winter's was gone, and that Weiss was safer.

In fact, Winter had specifically told Cinder to keep an eye out on Weiss, ensuring that her younger sister was cared for when she was in the mansion. Weiss seemed to love Cinder's company, the normally icy and mature girl melting and becoming younger in the adviser's proximity. Winter figured the older woman would be doing good to make Weiss act her age.

Weiss...Winter closed her eyes on the thought of her sister. She was the only family she had left. She was the sister for whom she was changing this whole world so that it could be better. She knew something had happened to Weiss to change her. She had become cold and calculated, losing her kindness and her gentle nature. Weiss had been such a crybaby when she was younger, always running up to Winter whenever she got a injury or felt sad. Mother and father had always said that Schnee didn't cry, but Winter had told Weiss that it was okay to feel sad once in a while. That crying made you feel better. That there should be nothing wrong with it. And Weiss had listened, being able to express her sadness, her happiness and her anger liberally.

But then Winter had become Queen, taking on the persona of her mother. She was an iceberg. Impenetrable and heartless. Weiss, who had always looked up to Winter as the shining example of what to do in life, began to act more like her. Winter didn't like this, so she sent Weiss away to become a huntress at Beacon. She knew the girl's dream was to be one, to help people in need.

Sending her away must have been the wrong move to make because she came back hard and closed up on herself. And when she declared that her will was to make her own company, Winter's heart had cracked just a little. Something had changed her sister but she didn't know what. So she doubled her efforts in her plan of world domination in order to make a place where Weiss would be loved. But now Adam had thrown away all of Winter's carefully created plans.

She needed to get back to society. She needed to take things back into control. In order to do that she needed to speak with this mystery figure. But first, food. Her stomach was trying to eat itself and no amount of steel will could stop her mouth from salivating over the warm meal.

* * *

Jaune looked at the stars through his fingers. He held his hand straight up into the sky, his other one folded behind his head. He was lying in his sleeping bag. He and the team had finally made camp for the night. The day had been long, and many times he had thought he wouldn't make it, that he would collapse before he could take another step. But the reassuring glances from his teammates kept him going. He was the least fit from all of them and he didn't want to drag them down. Thankfully it turned out all those sparring sessions had helped him, building up and toughing his muscle. He had made it to the end. Now they had less than half the distance they originally had to travel. Tomorrow they would reach the town. He lowered his hand and turned over on his side. He needed his rest if he was going to continue walking tomorrow. Already the rest of his teammates were asleep, their bags circling around the fire that burned brightly. Yang was tending to it. The girl looking none the least tired by all the walking.

Everyone had knocked out as soon as their heads had hit the pillows. Yang noticed from the corner of her eye that Jaune was still awake and she decided to go talk to him for a bit. "Hey, Jaune. Rough time sleeping?" Her voice startled him and he turned around to face her.

"No, just thinking about stuff."

"Feeling pressured about this mission? Worried for them?" Yang sat down next to his head, crossing her legs and eyes on the fire blazing.

"How-how did you know?" Jaune sat up at this, lowering his voice when he remembered his friends were sleeping right now.

"I can tell you all care for each other. Just the way you interact with one another or help each other up when you fall down." Yang said this almost wistfully. She had gotten to know this group a bit better during their trek and she found that she liked them all. She could tell they were good kids, albeit not very skilled in climbing up mountains.

"Yea," Jaune also looked at the fire. "I'm worried for them because this mission is tough. I don't want them to get hurt, or worse, to die. I don't care if I do. But...not them. They don't deserve to suffer for my incompetence."

"Why do you not feel fit to lead them? I thought that the school you went to was only comprised of the best."

"I kind of...lied about the extent of my abilities." Jaune didn't know why he was opening up to Yang but he thought it was maybe because she was a stranger that it was so easy to talk to her. Plus, her face was very trusting and she looked kindhearted.

"Oh, I see." Yang was quiet a moment, the fire crackling in her silence. "Then I guess you'll have to work twice as hard. But don't worry. I have faith in you. And I know your team does too. And it's not misplaced. I don't think I've ever seen someone who cares about their friends as much as you do. I know this must be eating you alive, the concern for them. But if your team was selected for the mission then there must be a reason for it. You have the ability to bring them back home safe. You just have to believe in it." At this Yang stood up, cracking her back. "You get to bed, leader. You need your sleep for the ten hour hike awaiting us."

"So excited for that," Jaune said with a fake laugh and then turned around to go to sleep. Surprisingly Yang had given a good pep talk and he felt invigorated in this mission now. He had been worrying about it for so long; it was bringing his team down. It made them uncertain in their own abilities. He would have to put his brightest smile on so he could show them they had nothing to worry about. If he couldn't contribute well enough to the battlefield then he would be their own personal cheerleaders.

Yang took her spot by a tree, propping her back up against it. She would keep watch for half the night before she let sleep over take her. A cool wind blew through the woods but she didn't even shiver although her clothes consisted of shorts and jacket with short sleeves. She was always running a bit hot. It came with her semblance.

As she watched the peacefully slumbering team, crickets chirping in the air, she thought back to her brief conversation with Jaune. He was worried for his team and Yang couldn't let that sit with her. He was out on this mission, searching for who knows what in the Never After all because he wanted to help others out. Yang also liked helping people out and while it came with a price tag most of the time, she had decided she was going to help this boy and his team. She couldn't stand to see them flounder in the great unknown. And if they didn't know how to navigate these woods then they would more than likely get lost in the Never After. It was final. She was going with them. Then with a wide smile, she turned her gaze to the dark woods on her left, listening for any sounds of approaching animals.

* * *

"Still no lead on Winter, I'm afraid," Ironwood told Weiss over the phone as the new Queen sat at her long dinning table, munching on some toast in between conversation with the general. She had been hungry, but the news had taken her appetite away. She pushed the plate with the half eaten toast away. Her appetite hadn't been too good ever since Winter had disappeared but now it was abysmal.

"And what are your men doing that there are no leads?" Weiss snarled into her scroll, slamming the table with her fist and making the plate jump.

"They are trying their best your highness," Ironwood rushed to appease her. Weiss could practically see the man sweating through the phone call. "But like I said, we have no leads on the third party. Leaked conversations between the White fang members have lead me to believe that this person is someone who has caused the gang grief in the past. She has made Adam quite pissed."

Adam wasn't the only one getting pissed off by her, Weiss was too. Weiss rubbed the bridge of her nose. That was a clue, albeit a small one. "Then get me all the information you can find on enemies of the White Fang."

"There's many of them. And not all of them have been publicized. It would require an infiltration of the White Fang-"

"I don't care how you get it, as long as you get it to me. Good day," she concluded the talk when she saw Cinder had approached the entrance to the dinning room. "Come in Cinder." The woman strode in with confident steps, a smirk on her lips.

"Good news?" Weiss asked, hope making her voice a little breathless. And maybe the way Cinder looked in that dress had an effect on her too. It was red and skin tight, with golden designs that trailed up and down it's sides.

"Very good news," she purred and Weiss's heart rate speed up at hearing that tone of voice- er, at hearing that there was good news. Weiss mentally corrected herself, realizing she was slipping into her old habit of fixating on every nuance of Cinder's actions and speech when she was around her. Weiss didn't have time to entertain such thoughts. Maybe when she was still a princess it had been fine, but she was a queen now. She had to focus on her nation.

"I found the man responsible for the breach." At this she snapped her fingers and two guards strode into the room as she moved aside to let them pass. In their hands they dragged a man whose face was adorned with scorch marks. Weiss rose from her seat as the guards paused in front of her. The man in their grip was barely awake, delirious from pain. Weiss indicated for Cinder to pick his face up so she she could see who he was. Under his scars Weiss recognized him. He was the butler who had broken her nose that day the faithful attack on the mansion had occurred. She never recalled hiring him. Since when was he on her staff?

"Did he say anything about how he got in? I never hired him," Weiss demanded of Cinder who let the man's face go, her leather clad hand's containing some of the flakes that had rubbed off from the man's face.

"He only told me that a week before the attack he had been let onto the force, by Winter herself."

Weiss's eyes flared in disbelief and she let a growl escape her lips. "What did he say?"

"That Winter let him on," Cinder repeated gravelly. "I do not know what he means. Winter would never do such a thing."

"Did Winter ever mention such a thing to you?" Weiss knew Cinder was her confidant. She was privy to whatever plans the current Queen had concocted.

Cinder shook her head at this, her long locks falling over her shoulder with this motion. "I did not know about this. She must have chosen to stay quiet on this issue."

Weiss felt her veins boil. What was going on? "Is he faunus?" Weiss gritted out through her teeth.

Cinder's lips pursed. She didn't want to say it, but she had no choice. "Yes."

Things were not adding up. "Cinder, I want you to get ever last bit of information out of him," Weiss ordered not an ounce of regret in her decision. "Just make sure he stays coherent enough that what he says aren't lies. And clean the cell once you gleam the information and dispose of him."

Cinder nodded her head and dismissed the two guards who took the man to the dungeons to be tormented. Each mansion had been built with basement prisons in case of situations such as these. And while Weiss would rather not use them, she was going to get answers. If Ironwood wouldn't do it for her, then she would do it herself, even if it meant she had to dirty her hands. She turned back to her chair, trying to swallow the lump down in her throat. She had a clue that might lead to what happened to Winter. But something irked her. What was a faunus doing on the security team? One that claimed Winter had hired? Winter hated faunus more than father and mother ever had. She hated them so much that Weiss was surprised such hatred could be manifested from such a delicate and royal body. Where had this hatred even come from? It seemed so sudden. Winter had never claimed to hate the faunus before she became queen.

Weiss became aware that Cinder was still in the room. "What is it?" Weiss questioned, sensing the other woman had questions.

"I was merely wondering if you were okay. Did I spoil your appetite? I'm sorry, I should have waited until breakfast was over," Cinder indicated to the plate as she spoke, not waiting for Weiss to answer her first question.

"It is fine. I was not hungry," Weiss insisted. Still Cinder did not leave. "Do you require more instructions on what to do? Was I not explicit enough?"

"It is not that. I'm worried for you," Cinder admitted. She took two steps closer to Weiss, standing behind her at arm's length away. She could reach out and brush the expensive cloak the queen was wearing. Weiss only wore the crown in public spaces or in the eyes of her citizens. But she liked the more expensive clothing she could wear so she kept wearing the cloaks even at home.

"I'm fine. Your concern is unfounded," Weiss said, trying to remain strong. But her voice shook and she gripped the arm of her chair hard as she kept her eyes directed at the expensively wallpapered wall.

Cinder hesitated before speaking, dismissing the two guards who stood by the door to the dinning room. They left, giving the two privacy. Then, confident that Weiss could speak more freely, she approached the younger girl and placed her hands gently on her shoulders. "Weiss, I know things are difficult right now. And I know you want to portray a tough image, but it is okay to be weak around me. I've seen your father and mother break down in rough moments. I've seen your sister do the same. So please, do not be afraid to tell me how you really feel. If you do not tell someone then you will fall to those burdens and you must remain strong emotionally and mentally for this country." Cinder's tone was soft and pleading, urging the queen to listen to her.

Weiss's shoulders which had been tense, softened, and she let out a sigh as she turned around to face Cinder, the older woman's hands now coming up to cup the others face. "Okay?" Cinder's ember eye was searching Weiss's face.

"But what about you?" Weiss voiced a concern she had pondered from time to time.

"What about me?" Cinder asked, thrown off by the question.

"You've always been there for everyone in my family when they needed you most, but that puts a terrible burden on your soul. Who do you talk to?"

This paused Cinder and her hands dropped from Weiss's face. The queen knew she had caught her. "Cinder, I want you to come to me with your troubles too. Don't burden everything yourself. I want you to be honest with me. If you feel sad, then tell me. And if I feel sad then I shall tell you too." Weiss looked up with innocent and earnest eyes at the older woman who swallowed down her shock and let a smile grace her lips.

Weiss was sweet. Too sweet. It would be her downfall. Cinder couldn't share her secrets with Weiss. She had sworn to Winter that she would take them to the grave with her. So even if she knew exactly what had happened to Winter, she couldn't tell Weiss. No matter how much the other girl was suffering because of her sister's disappearance.

"Weiss," Cinder was one of the few allowed her to address her as such. "I cannot do such a thing. My feelings and thoughts do not matter to you.  _Should_  not matter to you," Cinder corrected when she saw Weiss about to comment on that. "My concerns are petty in the grand scheme of things. You have a nation to run. I need to cater your needs, so that you can be at your best. You should not cater to mine."

Cinder could see that she hadn't swayed Weiss one bit. So she let the girl counter her. She could tell there was no point in arguing further. Weiss was stubborn. Once she had an idea in her head she would not let it go. "But you are very important to me," Weiss insisted, a faint blush covering her cheeks.  _Don't blush, don't blush,_  Weiss scolded herself, hating how she tended to do that a lot around Cinder. "My family has trusted you for generations. And you have served us well, being immensely loyal to us at a time when loyalty between my family and their friends and partners was paper thin. You gave us so much help, and I want to repay you for all your hard work. I want you to...consider me a friend and not just your queen." Weiss's face was now going full red and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

 _Oh dear, it seems Miss Schnee is having grand ideas of repaying me for my years of loyalty,_  Cinder thought with amusement. If only Weiss knew the extent of Cinder's work for the company and crown. Weiss had always been shielded from the darker sides of what her family did. If she knew Cinder was a murderer, how would she feel about being her friend then? As far as Weiss was lead to believe, Cinder was a mere personal servant to the family, offering advice, doing thorough investigations, information gathering, and fighting the families evils.

Cinder decided she had better do something before Weiss got too red. "I already think of you as a friend. You were one, even before you became queen." It seemed that had been the wrong line to use. Weiss's face got even redder. "And I will try to divulge my feelings to you. To tell you my concerns, if it will make you feel better."

"But what about your rewards for your services-"

Cinder grasped Weiss's cold hands in hers. "My reward is seeing your family survive and prosper. I wish I had only been more skilled back when I was younger. Then I could have protected your father and mother, sparing you from this awful orphaned existence." Cinder let remorse tinge her voice. She did feel bad about the king and queen's untimely death but not for the reason Weiss would assume. She wished she had been the one to kill them.

"Uh," Weiss quickly cleared her throat when she realized it was squeaky. She hated how she fell into a mess every time she was with Cinder and the fact that she was holding her hands was not helping her with her composure. Cinder's hands were warm, her body always radiating that wonderful heat that Weiss could never get enough of. Weiss' own body was almost always cold. It was as if the more cruel she got, the colder her body became, almost like she was turning to ice herself. "I still want to give you something for it." She said this much more steadily and looking up into Cinder's ember eye. Cinder gave her a crooked smile at this, the one that made Weiss's heart leap ten stories and remind her that she wasn't indeed turning to ice.

"I concur. You can give me your gift," Cinder then hugged the girl tightly to her chest and Weiss breathed in the soothing scent of incense that she had long grown accustomed to. Cinder had been around ever since she was a little girl, becoming Weiss's and Winter's playmate. Play time was fun, the older girl knowing just how to take care of the kids. She was only eleven at the time but already she had seemed so mature to Weiss, who was only three. Eventually Weiss stopped seeing her around so much as Cinder had gotten busier at the turn of her 15th birthday. But then when Winter had become queen while Weiss was still eleven, Weiss had seen Cinder around a lot more, the dark haired girl becoming her close companion. She admired the older girl. She was so mature and smart and beautiful and she wished she could look like her. Even her skills were amazing. Weiss would sometimes watch Cinder take on wooden dummy foes, incinerating them till they were nothing but ash. Her movements were always so fluid and filled with passion, as if the fire she wielded came from deep within her.

Weiss was in thrall of Cinder's fighting ability and that was in part why she wanted to become a huntress. She wanted to look just as awesome as Cinder did when she was slaying monsters. She took to training in her free time with Cinder before she was sent off to Beacon. Her training sessions with Cinder were always fun and she learned new things. Doing other things with Cinder was fun too, like girl nights, where the two of them would watch movies in Weiss's personal theater together. They would laugh at the actors, at the plot, or at the bad lines. She was the closest thing Weiss could call to a friend. She didn't have many given who her family was. Those that she did have weren't authentic, only in it for the money and connections. Wearing a crown was a lonely thing indeed.

"Now, I better be on my way to interrogate the prisoner and get you the answers you seek," Cinder said, pulling away from Weiss.

"I trust that you can find them," Weiss said, her face brimming with trust for Cinder.

Cinder gave a smile without any true force behind it. Weiss shouldn't be putting all her trust in her. She was after all keeping the truth hidden from her. But what the current queen didn't know couldn't hurt her. Or it could, depending how Cinder played the hand she had been dealt.

She left the room, leaving Weiss with her cold inedible toast. The current queen merely sniffed at it before she retired to her quarters. She had to find new measures to make the White Fang pay.


	7. Destined to Plan

The Grand Master paced around the earthen table, barely able to control her ire at her subordinates failure. "Where is Winter? Why was she not delivered to me days ago?" She knew why the queen was missing, but she wanted to hear it from her subordinates mouth so she could punish them for it.

All of them sat at the table, hooded heads held down. "What? Is no one going to answer me? Have you all lost your tongues, after you lost your brains? Because you cannot do anything right!" she howled, like a Grimm, her screams ringing around the cavern and making them all flinch as she slammed her fist down next to the leader of the second group. "I make the prophecy clear for you all. I even provide the details to what to do- I lead you like damn children to the path you should take and what do you do? You mess it up!" The flames on the torches flickered wildly in the face of her terrifying presence, in threat of going completely out and leaving the group in the dark.

When she saw no one had still spoken she turned to the leader of the second group, using their code name. "Ash, tell me. Tell me why Winter was not delivered to me as agreed upon by the White Fang." The Grand Master stepped back from the table, giving Ash space to rise and speak.

"Grand Master, the White Fang failed to deliver the queen to us because they were intercepted by a third unknown party."

"And why did they allow this party to escape with the queen?"

"The party is faunus, so they were able to sneak in among the White Fang army. The gang have identified them as 'her'."

"Her?" Grand Master growled, not satisfied by the vagueness of Ash's explanations.

"They use 'her' to address her but I have been in contact with Adam ever since the incident and he has confided in me that the person we are seeking is known as Blake Belladonna."

"And what is known of her?" Grand Master said in a more pleasant tone, becoming slowly appeased by the information. It helped calm her when she understood what had gone wrong in her plans.

"She was once a White Fang member, one of Adam's closest trustees. Also one of the more formidable opponents that anyone who messed with the gang would face. She was called the Live Shadow because of her abilities. Since she is no longer a White Fang asset, Adam divulged to me her skill set. Her semblance allows her to make shadow clones, while her weapon is a mix of gun, sword, and has ribbons that allow her to easily swing from place to place or ensnare opponents in battle. She can also very easily disappear, giving her the nickname. And it is also the reason why no one has been able to find her. She had given the White Fang issues in the past after she separated from them. She has sabotaged their missions, turning a good portion of the members to the police or military."

"A faunus who fights her own species," Grand Master mussed, rubbing her chin under her hood. "Does she carry no love for her kind?"

Ash gave an apologetic half bow. "I do not know more than this. That is all Adam would tell me about Blake."

"Has he said anything about his efforts to regain Winter?"

"He said that the only thing he could do was wait it out. He has an inkling of a clue as to what Blake would want to do with Winter but he cannot do anything about her because once she disappears, she stays gone unless she wants to reappear."

The Grand Master let out a low growl. She did not like this answer. "He's waiting it out? I don't have time for this! We are running on a schedule. He needs to bring me her. Give him a week's time. A week! That's all he gets. And if he complains tell him we'll send a horde of Grimm on a faunus village."

"Yes, I shall Grand Master." Ash went to sit down but Grand Master's raised hand stopped her. "One more thing."

"Yes?" Ash asked nervously, licking her lips.

"How is Weiss?"

"The current queen is well protected. She is intent on finding her sister so I fear she might find something out. What are your orders regarding this?"

"Keep her silly notions of getting her sister entertained for now. She might help unearth her and then we can swoop in. We need to find her before the four destined one's meet." At this the Grand Master looked at a sun dial that was by one of the walls. Except this sun dial didn't tell what time it was based on sun rays but told how close the destiny was to coming true. It wasn't accurate by any means and Grand Master had to make rough estimates on how much time was left. So far it looked like she had about a month's time. Which wasn't a lot. "We don't have a lot of time. That is why I will not tolerate failure, of any kind." This she said as she looked each member over, all of them cowering under her heavy gaze. She wasn't too angry at them. It wasn't them who had messed up, but the White Fang. Still, it would do well to remind them exactly what was at stake here.

"We cannot fail. We have too much riding on the success of this. Surely we all remember why we choose to be here. We all have our personal reasons. Scorned by society," she looked at the man who was the biggest out of all of them at the table, "hated by others for our differences and talents," at this she looked at the usually jittery man who let out a cackle at being mentioned, "treated as scum," at this she looked at a girl on Ash's side of the table, before coming back to look at the sun dial. "The reasons do not cease. But we must remember that our common goal is to release the Grimm from their suffering and revert the world to how it should rightfully be. For too long have the humans dirtied the planet with their garbage. They think they are the best, they walk as if they own the world. But they do not. For in the first eons of this planet, Grimm ruled it. They were free to do as they pleased but then humans came and fought them, taking all that should have been the Grimm's." At this Grand Master clenched her hand, her red nails digging into her pale skin. Her words were filled with bitterness as she envisioned all she was speaking off.

"But the Grimm are not easily thwarted. They fought back against the humans and when the humans turned to dust and weapons to hold them at bay, they then choose Grimm born. Those humans whose souls had been ravaged by a Grimm to death, only to be brought back to life to serve them and help them regain what was rightfully theirs. But the Grimm know better than to destroy the whole world. With me, and you to help me, we shall command the Grimm. Help them settle into this new world. We will of course destroy everything that stands in our way, that opposes us, that annoys us!"

At this cheers came from her henchmen.

"Children, kill the children. Those pesky brats annoy me to no end!" The jittery man howled out, half rising out of his seat.

"The faunus! Destroy them and their stupid rights!" The big man roared out, slamming his hands on the table.

"Atlas! Let them burn!" growled out a female's voice.

"Vale! I hate that stupid city, let them be next," Said a calmer more, but filled with the most malice out of all of them.

"Ozpin must suffer!" cackled another, the table dissolving into a mess of death threats and evil laughter.

Grand Master let this sink in before she sliced her hand in the air, demanding silence. "Shut up!" They quieted down at once except for the jittery man who was standing up on his feet, head thrown back in evil merriment. "Sting, sit down, or do I have to make you sit down."

Sting stopped his laughter and sat down. "Sorry," he groveled and she dismissed his apologies with a flick of the wrist.

"And once we have had the help of the Grimm to destroy all we hate, then we shall create a new world from their ashes and bones. One connected with the Grimm. We shall be the rulers!" Grand Master said this with relish, holding out her hands to her sides. She could already envision it. The world crumbling around her as all burned.

"But we have to put our all into our efforts, I want you all to rise to the level of Ash's work. She has provided me with excellent work over the years. She has been my loyalest supporter, coming to my aid without a second thought even though she as ardently supported the last Grand Master."

"Thank you for your kind words," Ash bowed her head.

"We shall do our best," the big man said.

Grand Master tsked at this. "Do not simply do your best, but  _the_  best, Briar," she stressed. "Meeting dismissed. Except for you, Ash. I wish to speak to you more."

Everyone bowed, their robes sweeping around them as they silently left. Ash remained behind, waiting for Grand Master to speak to her first. Grand Master took her time, remaining intensely focused on the sun dial. At last she looked up, her tone grave and measured. "The crux of this operation will rest heavily upon your shoulders. So I want to be sure that you are ready for what you must do. If you have any last minute questions on what to do, then ask me before the plan is launched into motion."

"Yes," Ash bowed their head, voice full of gravity. "I know what my task is, and I reassure you that I can do it, alone, even if it comes to that. But I am ready- my body full of rage and hatred that fuels me on. I cannot wait to spill their blood, every last drop of it."

"And the honor shall be yours," Grand Master reminded her. "A servant as worthy as you deserves to do it. You are my hardest working servant, and I would not have achieved half of what I have without you by my side. Therefore, when the time arrives, I want you to be by my side as my second in command."

"My Grand Master," the figure gasped out, deeply shocked and honored by this. She sunk to her feet, grasping her master's pale white hand. "You honor me- I am at a loss for words, so deep is my gratitude."

"Rise. It is something you rightly deserve."

"I humbly thank you once more," Ash said reverently as she rose to her feet at once. "I would love nothing more than helping you in commanding the armies of the Grimm. To help you defeat that which you hate most, if I may be so bold."

"Ah, yes, that which I hate most," at this the Grand Master strode away from Ash slowly, thinking about how her hands would wrap around the throat of that which she hated most, watching the life leave from it's eyes. "That is a job reserved only for me. One pair of hands is enough to strangle the life from them." She let out a dark chuckle as she looked down at her hands. Yes, these hands had been the same hands to help them, to raise them through tough times, and now they would the same hands to bring them down.

Curling her fingers in on herself she let the torches go out, casting her into the dark once more.

* * *

Morning arose on the encampment. Four groggy teens rose out of their sleeping bags, yawning heavily. Even Nora didn't look to be excited to begin this trek once more, last day's taking all the vim out of her. Only Yang was as energetic as always. "Come on guys, time to get up!" she was banging a pot and pan together, ones she carried with her in her giant bag.

"We're up, we're up!" Jaune tried to yell over the ratchet she was making but his throat was too harsh from sleep to be of much use. Thankfully Pyrrha had her semblance. With a snap of her fingers as she rose from bed, her red hair a muss, she activated it. Using it she polarized the pot and pan. Yang suddenly found that her pot and pan no longer could hit each other, coming up on an invisible force field each time she brought them close together. "Huh? What's going on?"

"Hey, is that a whole boar?!" Nora asked around the toothbrush she had taken out so she could brush her teeth. The water in her cup nearly spilled out as she rushed over to where a giant boar lay by Yang's stuff.

"Yup, it sure is!" Yang's attention dispersed from the useless noise makers in her hands, tossing them to the side where they hit Jaune on the head as he pulled himself up slowly from bed, every muscle aching terribly. He barely felt the pot and pan hit his head over the pain the rest of his body was in. How was he ever going to make it into the town, much less be able to fight the Never After creatures in this state?

Yang strode over to the boar, lifting it up over her head like it was a twig. "I caught it for us this morning, figuring some meat would help revive you guys. You all look like you can barely move."

"We would appreciate the meat," Ren said, slipping his sleeping bag into his back bag neatly. Standing up he concluded his sentence, "but we do not have enough time to cook it. It will take a while to start up a huge enough fire to cook it, and then to actually roast it would take a good two to three hours. Time that we could spend walking to town."

"Not to worry. We don't need a fire as long as we have me," Yang proudly said, jerking her chin up. "Someone, pull on my hair."

"Pull...on your hair?" Jaune questioned as he slipped his hoodie over his head only to find it had gone on backwards, the hood slipping over his face and blocking his vision. He took two blind steps back and both his feet ended up in the earlier discarded pot and pan and he slipped, falling onto his back.

"Yea. Pull on it. Go ahead," Yang egged on.

"Alright, I'll do it!" Nora volunteered, shoving her toothbrush in her mouth to free one of her hands and pulled on the end of one strand of hair. Immediately the result was apparent. "Let go of my hair!" Yang snarled, startling Nora with the ferocity of her words. The blonde's eyes had gone red from their usual amethyst and a yellow flame engulfed her. "I'll smoke you!" she warned and Nora quickly lost her fright at Yang's anger when she saw what was happening to the boar. "Look, it's cooking!" She pointed to it. Pyrrha who had been helping Jaune to his feet, looked over.

The boar was cooking nicely on the flames of Yang's anger. "Wow, that is a pretty convenient semblance," Pyrrha said appreciatively.

"Convenient?" Yang was clearly not happy with that word choice. Pyrrha began to panic at the blonde's anger being directed at her. "Uh, no, it's cool." No, that was the wrong word. "It's hot?" When she saw Yang's eyebrows nose dive she knew she had messed up. "It's really good. Like really good."

Jaune tensed up, worried for Pyrrha's safety right now. Yang was growling and shaking in anger, her flames going up in intensity. Nora gasped at the flames in awe. She dumped her cup of water on it, the liquid doing nothing. "Wow, she's really hot."

"Nora, stay back," Ren moved to pull his friend back when he noticed she lacked the commonsense to move back herself. He put her behind his back, worried if he would need to protect her.

But Yang didn't explode like they predicted. Instead her flames died down and a smile returned to her face as her eyes calmed back to a deep purple. "Well. At least as long as my power isn't considered boar-ing," Yang snickered, "then I don't mind." She lowered the steaming boar until it was chest level. "On that note I may have shown off a bit too much. The boar's a bit burnt." The scent of slightly charred flesh wafer up to the team.

When they all stayed quiet she asked, "what?"

Jaune shook his head, Pyrrha had a face full of pity and Ren had slapped his face. Even Nora's mouth corners had dipped down.

"What?" Yang asked again when their silence got on her nerves.

"You're one of  _those_  people," Nora said simply.

" _Those people?_  What do you mean by that?"

"The kind that make  _those_  kinds of jokes," again was Nora's simply response.

"What kind of jokes?" Now Yang was actually getting a bit upset.

"Let me explain," Ren stepped in, noting the hurt look on Yang's face. "We don't mean any offense. We were just referencing to your pun right now."

"Oh, the boar joke. That was a good one," Yang laughed to herself when she thought back to it.

"Yes. That." Ren said curtly. He took in a deep breath. He hated being the bearer of bad new. "I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but we do not tolerate puns around here. They decimate the soul with their bad quality. This is a no pun environment," Ren tried to say as nicely as possible, but Yang was only growling at him. That was a bit rude.

Then he realized she wasn't the one growling. "Looks like you're not the only one to  _bear_  bad news around here," Yang quickly cracked another joke as she hefted the cooked boar over one shoulder and indicated with her other hand for Ren to look back. Everyone else did too. In the brush, standing on two hind legs was a giant black bear. Or more currently, one who had been turned into a Grimm.

"Ursula!" Nora gurgled around her toothbrush and then took it out and flung it at the Grimm. It barely affected it. "I'll distract it. Get the weapons!" The team members flew into a hurry as they ran for their weapons, Nora doing some sort of weird dance that was meant to taunt the Grimm as they dug into their bags for their weapons. The Ursula dropped to its feet and roared.

"Nora get out the way," Ren cried out as he noted the Grimm was about to charge. It let out another cry and ran straight ahead, aiming for Nora which it had deemed as the most tasty and most annoying morsel here.

"Hold my boar," Yang ordered as she hip bumped Nora out of the way, tossing the small girl the food. The orange haired girl was barreled over by the dead meat as she grabbed it. Ren was behind her in an instant, trying to stop her from falling but only succeeded as serving as her cushion.

"Yang, get out of the way!" Jaune called out, pulling his sword and shield out of his bag and shaking the blade frantically when he saw it had caught on one of the bag straps. The Grimm was getting alarming close to Yang but the blonde just stood in place.

"You don't have a weapon. Here, I'll throw you mine," Pyrrha offered, already in stance to throw her javelin.

"I don't need a weapon. These are my weapons," Yang said, raising her fists.

"Are you crazy? Fists do nothing against Grimm!" Jaune called back, still struggling with the strap. He began to shake more valiantly.

"Yang!" Pyrrha called out, making the decision and throwing her javelin right into the palm of the charging monster. It stabbed the front leg down hard, preventing the monster from moving forwards any more. It snapped it's teeth angrily at the weapon, trying to pull it out but Pyrrha kept it tightly implanted with her semblance.

"I'll get the beast from the back, you just keep it in that position!" Jaune ordered.

"Man, you guys took away my fun. I wanted to meet it Ember Cecila to skull!" Yang called out as she flung her hands out. The things that Jaune had thought were clunky bracelets around her wrists turned out to be a weapon of some sort. They encased her wrist, gun chambers popping out. Once they were completely in place she clanked the two weapons together and let them fire. Blasts of dust came from them, piercing the skull of the beast. The monster let out a cry as the hits struck true. It collapsed to the ground and disintegrated.

"I didn't know you had a weapon like that," Pyrrha said in admiration as she called back her weapon into her hand.

"It's pretty awesome," Jaune said. "Where did you get it from?" He had finally freed his weapon only to sheathe his sword because now the threat had passed.

"I got it from my dad. He made it and used it to fight during his time as an adventurer. Once he settled down and had a family he had no more use for it. So when I was ready to leave, he sent it to me so I could use it. To keep myself safe." Yang let the weapons turn back to their original state.

"Now we have got to eat that boar. I think the scent of it attracted the bear here in the first place." Yang turned to pick the heavy boar up from Nora. The food had caused Nora to knock out, her eyes spinning swirls, and Ren had been trying to move her up but with the weight of the boar on him it hadn't worked out so well. Now with the heaviest of burdens gone, he could get up, holding Nora in his arms.

"Is she alright?" Yang asked.

"She'll be fine. Just give me a second." Ren cleared his throat before saying one word. "Pancakes."

"Pancakes!" Nora immediately bolted out of his arms, looking high and low, left and right. "Where?" When it sunk in where she was, in a forest with a blonde holding up a boar, she realized she had been tricked. "Aw, Ren you lied to me!"

Ren shrugged. He couldn't be bothered to care. He knew the girl wasn't really mad at him.

"Who wants the boar leg?" Yang asked, tearing out the limb easily and holding it out like a trophy.

"I do!" Nora grabbed it and began to tear into it, bits of meat flying everywhere.

"Slow down, you'll make your stomach hurt," Ren chided as he calmly took his share of the meal.

"If we don't eat quickly more Grimm can get attracted!" Nora argued as she reached out for another boar leg, having already reduced hers to bone. Jaune and Pyrrha took their respective parts, leaving most of the boar's body for Yang, who tore into it eagerly. They talked light heartedly while they ate, keeping watch for any additional Grimm. When none came, they packed up all their stuff after finishing and finally left for their destination- the next town.

* * *

Adam Taurus, leader of the rebel group White Fang, sat in his chair chin in hand after having waved away the messenger who had just come to him. The man had born bad news. News that concerned Winter. Adam knew that the Grand Master was mad at his gang's inability to deliver Winter to her like he had promised. And he was dead set to recapture her, to fix his mistake, but there was no way he could do it until Blake revealed herself.

Blake, his once most trusted confidant and best fighter, had betrayed him years ago after she had found out of his blood thirsty ways to achieving power and equal rights for the faunus. There had been no indication that she was going to do it. Just one day she woke up and never came back. Adam had searched desperately for her, worried that she had been kidnapped or something, but it had turned out to be that she had left of her own free volition.

She had then started to strike back from the shadows, spoiling his operations and turning his men over to the authorities. Because of her his success rates had fallen, his workers getting disgruntled with his inability to achieve the grandiose which he had promised them. She had come from being his most valuable, her on missions instantly guaranteeing their success, to being his most hindering obstacle, worse than the whole governments he fought against.

He had tried multiple times to capture her but he had failed. She was simply too strong; too sneaky and cunning. She always had the edge on him and he didn't know how. Perhaps it was because she knew him far too well? The two of them had spent much of their orphaned childhood together, running from those humans who wanted to harm them. Those years on the run, relying on each other for food, shelter and companionship, drew them close. They knew the ins and outs of each other's minds. They knew the extent of each other's powers. Of each other's ambitions and life goals. Their souls were so in sync they could often communicate what they felt to each other without even having to use words.

Blake would be there to comfort him, just holding him in her arms when he was overwhelmed by the decisions he had to make to lead their gang. And it was  _their_  gang. Even though Adam was the head figure, the man who was on the hit list of governments and entire countries, it was Blake who also ran the gang, the two of them having built it from the bottom up. She ran it from the shadows. She never felt comfortable being in the limelight, but more suited to being the person on the side. And Adam respected her wish to work on her own terms. He would be the face of the White Fang while she would be the brains and brawn.

Her assistance to Adam was invaluable. Her semblance was perfect and allowed her to slip in and out of missions without a single soul knowing she had been there. He was glad he had someone like her helping lead the White Fang's movement for equal rights. He was sure there was nothing she wanted more than to give her kind the freedom they deserved. Their hearts were synchronized on this single task, their life and strengths dedicated to it.

Or at least Adam had assumed he had known Blake's most inner workings; that this was her wish. She was always hard to read, even for him. She kept her emotions locked up, a mysterious air always surrounding her. She had been like that ever since Adam had meet her as a young faunus. He figured it was part of her nature to be like this, that she simply did not feel much as there was something wrong with her mind, with the way she felt things. So that was why he had no idea that she would betray him.

And the betrayal stung.

It hurt worse than he thought a betrayal could. It was like a hot branding iron that sat on his chest each day, making it hard to breath. It was like a knot in his heart, squeezing it until he felt it would burst. It was like torment; a mental barrage of never ending why's? And explanations and rationalizations as to why she did this.

He had hope at first that she was simply off doing some dangerous mission that she didn't want to tell him about so as not to worry him, to prevent him from stopping her from doing it, or to keep from dragging him into it and distracting him from his job. But as time went by and he found his gang slowly betrayed, all his schemes turning to dust, he  _knew_. He _knew_  it was her. No one ever saw her do it. No one ever ran into her doing it. Or even heard her. There was no mark of her work on any of the operations she ruined, but there didn't have to be one. It was the lack that gave her away.

Absence was her signature.

Adam had been infuriated, the sting of betrayal turning into the storm of fury that demanded the wrongs committed against him be righted. What was Blake doing? She was selling out her own people, stopping the cogs of the machine that would bring them the justice they deserved. He only wanted to see her, to talk to her. To at least know why.

Just why.

The one word was eating him up.

He let out a long sigh, taking off the imposing white mask he wore over his eyes. Behind it lay tired red eyes and a creased forehead, lined with worry. The Grand Master wanted Winter but if Blake had her, and there was no question she did, then Adam would not get her back. And the Grand Master had told him he had a week's time to accomplish the correction of his blunder in letting Blake escape.

The Grand Master...once again he thought about the deal he had made with her. The one that had lead him to betray Winter. He had thought he had struck gold by working with Winter. Even Blake was overjoyed when the queen wanted to work with them to fix faunus rights, under the guise that she really hated them only so that she could take all the evils of the world on herself in order to make the world hate her so that they would work together due to their animosity for her. And overjoyed for Blake meant a small smile on her lips. Adam and Blake of course had been cautious in accepting the queen's offer at it's face value. Politics was always full of back stabbing and hidden deals and pacts that could turn this deal on its head and make it go sour for the faunus. But Winter had been resolute in her words and she aided them fairly in their struggle. They thought her crazy for wanting to do such a thing, but it was her decision if she wanted to ruin her own life.

So what had made Adam betray Winter? Simply because the Grand Master gave him a better deal. Why work with humans, why be equal with them, when he could annihilate them completely, or better yet, make them his lessers in a new world he created. And he had loved this idea. The thought of power, even more than he held now, enticed him. He wanted power to hurt the humans who had hurt him, who had done him wrong. But not only him, but all of his people's. So he had asked what the Grand Master wanted in exchange for this piece of new world that he would get and she simply said Winter. Adam hadn't hesitated to double cross the queen. After all, she would have done it to him eventually. If not now then when she was going to make her new world.

He convinced the queen to station a faunus guard in her house and she had agreed after he pointed out that it would provide for seeing that she truly did not hate faunus like she said she did. The queen no doubt sensed this faunus worker could be a spy but she could not turn it down by saying that as then it would have looked like she was discriminatory to faunus, thinking them all to be spies. And this man had been a spy. He was the one who had given Adam all the information needed to breach the mansion. He wasn't the only help. Apparently someone else in the mansion was aiding him. Someone that was under the charge of Grand Master. Who, he didn't know, since he was not privy to that level of clearance with the Grand Master yet. He didn't really much care anyways, as long as he got his part of the deal. He did have to wonder however, why the Grand Master wanted Winter? Was she faunus as well, and seeking to kill the queen for her crimes? The queen didn't really hate faunus but there was no denying that she had readily caused their pain and suffering in order to be evil according to her end goal.

Adam shrugged. Again, he didn't really care. His only business was now securing Winter.

He placed the mask down on the little stand for it, watching his reflection in the shiny white. Blake had been so close during the storming of the queen's palace, and yet again she had slipped out of his grip. His eyes closed, his heart clenching at the thought of his ex-friend. "Why are you doing this Blake?" he softly asked the air. "We were supposed to rule the new world together." His hands clenched. "Now I will be the sole ruler."

He sighed, relaxing his hands and snapping the protective glass over his mask. He needed a way to bring Blake out of hiding, but how? Could he stage some sort of big attack that would cause her to leap into action? Or maybe he could tempt her with knowledge? He knew she had eyes and ears somehow in the White Fang- in which way he didn't know since he hadn't discovered despite countless evaluations of his workers- but even she surely didn't know why Adam had gone after Winter, breaking their deal. Only Adam and the Grand Master knew the reason.

Letting a small smile grace his lips, Adam turned on his heel and left his private quarters, a plan formulating in his mind.


	8. Destined for Confusion

While Winter was in the bedroom, eating or not eating the soup Blake had given her- Blake honestly didn't care which it was at this point, the girl was so annoying!- Blake had taken to checking up with her informant about the White Fang's current course of action. Adam's course of action specifically.

"What's the update?" she asked as she placed the scroll to her human ear, her cat ears twitching impatiently under the black bow she used to hide them.

"Not even a hi, hello, how are you?" the voice chuckled, distorted by the special device used to disguise it in case someone tried to listen in on the call. "I'm over here nearly getting my tail cut off getting this information for you and this is the best you can do?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "You don't have a tail."

"Some bird faunus do," came the playful retort before they cleared their throat. "Anyways, as you can imagine Adam is pissed off at you. Very pissed off. He just got word from a messenger of the new business partner he has teamed up. And it wasn't good. She wants Winter found and now. No doubt Adam is going to try to draw you out. So whatever traps he lays, be careful."

Blake smirked at this. "Even if I go to his trap, I'll still escape." Adam may think he knew the full extent of her powers but he didn't. There was something she had hid from him. Something that had been hidden from her too before she discovered it. A nuance to her power that shouldn't be there. She knew it didn't come from her semblance so where had it derived from?

"Can you tell me more about this new business partner of his?"

"Of course. I haven't done extensive research as I do not have too much spare time, and they are also really hard to find, but what I have garnered is that they want to create a new world order, much like Winter did. Only where Winter was going to make equal rights for everyone and leave the ruling to Weiss, this new woman wants to destroy the world. Humans included. So no equal rights for anyone. And Adam seems to have bought into the concept. No doubt he wants to eradicate human kind and put faunus on the top."

Blake closed her eyes at hearing those words. What had happened to Adam? Where had he gone wrong? Had the power of ruling the formidable White Fang gone to his head? Had his hatred consumed him entirely leaving nothing but the desire for blood coursing through his veins? Blake had created that monster. She blamed herself deeply for it. If she hadn't put the idea of making a rebel group in Adam's mind, if she hadn't helped found the organization, then none of this would have happened. The two of them would have remained miserable, living on the streets, struggling. But at least the world would have been safe from Adam's machinations. So many who were dead now would still be alive.

Blake knew she wasn't entirely free from guilt. She had killed too many to count with her own abilities. Had ruined countless organizations from the shadows all to help Adam get his way. But while she had gotten more and more horrified by the way her hands easily snapped necks like they were twigs, how her blade sliced and diced through flesh like it was water, he had revealed in it. Soaking in the blood that sprayed freely from those whose heads he cut off. He bathed in the spray like it was water from a fountain. His hunger grew. And she hadn't seen it until it was too late, too blinded by her own accomplishments and satisfaction at what she thought was fair payment to those who had hurt her.

And now that he was working with someone who seemed to be even more hellbent on destruction of the human kind, there was no telling how much over the edge he would get pushed. He was a monster, plain and simple.

And since Blake had created him, she would bring him down.

"I know it must be hard to hear this," the informant said in response to Blake's long silence. "You were close. I too thought he was good, that he had the best interests in heart for all of us, but...I was wrong. I would have blindly followed him into doing anything but I was glad you opened my eyes. And now I'm going to help you take him down. I promised you that much after you saved my family's life."

Blake remembered that night clearly. Too clearly. Adam had taken to killing some faunus in order to raise the ire of the public and provide motivation for his gang in fighting against the Atlasian government. Blake couldn't stand for that. This was where she drew the line. She had saved the family's that were supposed to be killed, never telling Adam it was her who thwarted his plans that night. Instead, she blamed the death of his own workers on some army guards who happened to be deployed in the area. His blind trust in her didn't make him question why her own comrades blood coated her sword and face, why the family's were still alive. Neither did it make him dig deeper and find out that there wasn't any enemy convoy in that area at the time. His blind trust gave her an opening to turn select workers against him. She garnered a team of three who were very faithful to her and gave her information or support whenever she needed it. That was all she asked them to do. They didn't have to fight her fight. That was  _her_  job.

They were grunts, barely in Adam's radar, so it served them well. He wouldn't suspect they were the ones leaking information. He would think it was one of his higher ups. Blake knew Adam's way of operating well. Even if he did switch it up, it was never good enough to capture her or to stop her.

"I thank you for your ardent support. I just hope you are being careful," Blake told her informant.

"Always," promised the faunus on the other end. "That goes both ways. I really hope you aren't thinking of coming back within a week's time. Stay hidden until then. Once the week comes Adam should be punished for messing up the missions and then I could learn more about what it is he needs Winter for."

"I would hazard a guess that this new person he has teamed up with wanted to test the power of Adam's forces. To test his resolve in joining her cause. Perhaps it was in part to be rid of Winter and her image of the new world. Something tells me this new person will only make the situation worse for the faunus and not better. Continue looking for more information on her. Also, I need more information about Winter's sister."

There a soft rustling of paper from the other end as the informant looked something over. "Weiss Schnee has become queen of Atlas and CEO of the Schnee dust company. She's safe so far. The White Fang do not have a target painted on her back. It seems that whatever the reason for wanting Winter, it only applied to her and not the rest of her family. However, Weiss is cracking down on the faunus, making the conditions even worse. She has already passed stricter rules and curfew on the city. Anyone found outside past eight is detained. And there are higher taxes on goods, with the main roads guarded at all times. If she continues acting this way the White Fang might strike back."

"It seems that they thought Weiss wouldn't be as vile as her sister, but they were wrong. Once a Schnee always a Schnee," Blake said, disgust and anger clear in her voice. She didn't hide her hatred for the family. They were the ones who caused suffering for the faunus for generations. While they weren't the only ones, they were some of the worst.

"And what of queen Winter? Have you managed to talk to her yet? Did you make the deal with her?" Blake's goal was to persuade the queen into entering a deal that would make her goal for equal faunus rights a possibility right now. When Blake had first heard of Winter's true plans- to conquer the world so that she could reconstruct it- she had thought the woman mad. But it seemed like a good idea right now. The world had too many issues. Wouldn't it be nice to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch? That was why Blake was hoping the queen would accept Blake's offer of aid. Blake would offer her information of getting rid of the White Fang once and for all and protect her from her foes while the Queen razed the world and built it to the utopia everyone deserved.

"I haven't talked to her. We didn't really have much of a chance. She's very...annoying. Like a spoiled brat."

The voice on the other end chuckled. "Well, what did you expect?"

"Her to be more mature. She does run a company and country after all," Blake sighed. There was click of a door opening coming from down the hall and the patter of bare feet on wooden floor so Blake figured it was high time to end the call. "I'll stay in touch."

Pocketing her scroll, she turned to greet the former queen. She was carrying the empty soup bowl in her hands, wearing Blake's clothes. They didn't suit her at all. Contrasting sharply with her pure white hair. Pure might her hair be, but her soul was less than. It should be as dark as the abyss of hell. Winter had ordered atrocities to be committed against both human and faunus alike. Despite her want to change the world for the better it still didn't erase the fact that she had probably been the cause of thousands of faunus deaths. Blake couldn't help but hate her to a certain extent. But she supposed Winter would hold no amount of trust or love in her heart after being betrayed by the faunus she had made a deal with. Which would make Blake's task of convincing Winter to her side harder.

"I see you ate the soup." Blake evenly stated as way of conversation.

"Who were you talking to?" Winter questioned, ignoring Blake's comment and setting the bowl down on the small dining table in the middle of the room so that she could cross her arms over her chest and jerk her chin up.

"It was no one you need be concerned with," Blake answered coldly.

"You have access to the outside world. I demand to speak with my sister."

"You cannot do that, it would put us at risk."

"But you can?" Winter stamped her foot in frustration. She was behaving more like a spoiled brat than a queen. Or maybe she was only that way with Blake? "I demand to talk to my sister."

"You cannot," Blake affirmed with a hard edge to her voice.

Anger flared in the queens eyes. "She is my sister-"

"No."

This sent the queen into a rage and she lunged herself at Blake who nimbly avoided her arms and using her foot, tripped up the queen who fell flat on her face. Before she could rise, Blake had crouched down over her back, pressing her knee into Winter's spine the same time she painfully bent back the queen's arm and held it to her back.

"Let me go! Get your filthy hands off of me!" the queen demanded, trying to blindly reach out with her free arm to hit Blake but the dark haired woman was out of her reach. "I'm afraid I cannot unless you take heed to me. Perhaps if you listened, or had waited for me to tell you what I had to say then you would know that your sister is safe for now."

This paused her and she took a second or two to come to some internal decision. "Go on," Winter said slowly, hesitantly relinquishing the fact that she was desperate for information on her sister and thus giving Blake the upper hand here. Blake was glad to see she was going to listen.

"Your sister has taken position as queen of your country and CEO of your corporation," Blake began evenly. She saw Winter close her eyes briefly, a look passing on her face that Blake knew all too well. It was the same look she let pass her face when fellow faunus had died. It was mourning; grief for the death of something. Short and to the point, as that was the only way people like them could ever express their emotions. "She has slipped into the role with no troubles and has moved the military in order to find you. It seems she cares about you, somewhat. I wasn't certain the Schnee's were capable of love," Blake let that barb slip in there, not afraid to let the queen know what her stance on what she thought of her was. She could feel Winter tense underneath her but sensed no real anger at the words she had directed at Winter. It seemed she was used to these insults. Blake cleared her throat and moved on. "Currently the White Fang have no plans to harm her, but, if she continues acting in the way she is, which happens to be in restraining faunus rights and access to goods, then she will become a target. The only one the White Fang wanted was you, however, I have no clue as to why. You had a deal with Adam to help create a world that would be freed from inequality between the two species. The idea, while crazy, was a good one. Now, I have given you information so you must give me what I want. A fair exchange. Will you behave?"

"And how do you know all this. Just who exactly are you?" Winter demanded, trying to glare at Blake from where her head was positioned. It was an uncomfortable position, with her right cheek pressed into the ground and neck craned all the way to the left so her one eye could glare imperiously at Blake, it's piercing cold blue gaze having sent some many to their knees in fear.

Blake was not scared. When someone had stared death in the face so many times like she had, everything else lost it's effect on her. She contemplated on how much she could tell the queen. Then figuring that if she wanted her trust, she began slowly to reveal a bit of her identity, the action no less making her vulnerable. She released the Queen from her hold, the woman rising to her feet and rubbing her right arm. She jerked out her chin and glared angrily at Blake.

"Have you heard of the living shadow?"

"I don't have time for riddles," Winter sniffed haughtily.

"Yes or no?" Blake wasn't in the mood for the queen's snappish behavior.

"It's the name of the White Fang assassin. The one who works behind the shadows, who pulls the strings. The rebel group's most formidable weapon. Not much is known about them since they are the gang's highest asset. But what does that have anything to do with who you are-" Winter paused at this, gave Blake a look over as something dawned on her a face. A look of realization mixed with fear. "Oh."

Blake let a smile with no real happiness behind it grace her lips. "I'm glad you were able to pick up quickly on that. Saves me a lot of time on explanations. And don't worry about your safety. I've told you, you are safe with me. I will not harm you. That wasn't the reason why I rescued you."

"I'm not scared of you," Winter said, pulling up to her full height. "Merely skeptical of your promise not to kill me." She looked to be scheming to make a plan to escape and Blake internally chuckled. So it seemed she elicited this reaction even from the queen.

"I'm sure once I explain everything to you, it will become clear why I do not wish to kill you. I wish to reinstate you to your throne, in fact."

The queen looked momentarily flabbergasted by this, but she recovered swiftly. "And why? Why would an associate of the White Fang want to help me, the queen who has caused countless faunus deaths? Why would they go against the White Fang?"

"Ex-White Fang associate," Blake corrected, her voice full of bite. "The White Fang has kept much of it secret, but I left the group months ago because they sickened me. I no longer agree with the methods the leader is taking and wish to help you pursue your goals instead. You do not know this, but it was I and Adam who created the White Fang. I and him who nurtured the beast until it grew. And it was us together who decided to make the choice to join you. I know all about your plans."

"I never saw you at the meetings," Winter said. She had taken to standing by the fireplace as nonchalantly as possible where she had easy access to a fire poker. It would not do if she threw that at Blake, but the faunus knew her words should not incite that sort of reaction from her.

"Adam was the face of the faunus rights front. I worked in the shadows, but I assure you we both had equal share in the power that came with the White Fang."

"This reverts me back to my previous question: why? If both of you were on the same side then why would you want to help me and not he? Was his attack of my mansion some complex ploy to get you to talk to me-" Blake raised her hand to cut off the former queen.

"We are not on the same page. I have spent months sabotaging his schemes because he has decided to take a bloodier path, one I do not approve of. He has lost his way and I need to right him onto the correct path. The whole reason he had you kidnapped was so as to get you out of the picture. You were to be delivered to this new woman he has partnered with. I have no idea why she wanted you. I was hoping you might have some sort of idea."

Winter shook her head at this. "I wasn't aware he was going to double cross me, so I have no idea why he would suddenly betray me and all the work we had worked together for this long." There was a cold anger in her voice at being betrayed. "I will crush him for this." She curled her hands up.

"And I want to help with that." Blake held out her hand towards the queen. "I have the inside knowledge on the White Fang that will be beneficial to you. And my skills are undisputed. I can keep any trouble away from you. So what do you say? Do we have a deal? That you will instate your plan of worldwide equal rights and in exchange I will help you take down the White Fang and protect you?"

Winter stared at Blake's hand, as if in too much disbelief that the White Fang's most valued worker was offering to help her. And to take down those who had betrayed her. "I still do not see why I should trust you. If you were interested in making a business deal with me, you certainly did not treat me like a business partner."

"You didn't exactly listen to me and tried to run away which would only get you in more trouble," Blake explained, lowering her hand. "But, you have my word that I am on your side. What better ally than the queen to help me get rid of Adam. And I assure you with all the venom that I can muster, that I have it out for him. He did something that I will never forgive him for. And thus, he needs to be slayed."

"If your skills are so good, why not kill him yourself? Why ally yourself with a queen who has killed thousands of your kind?" Winter asked. Blake could see why the queen devoured so many opponents in the business room. She had a way of asking questions that made a person question everything about themselves. It would cave them in until they gave up all the information that Winter wanted. But Blake wasn't going to give in.

"Those plans for his head are not information you will have access to until we agree to this deal. And as for you...I do hate you, make no mistake of it," Blake promised, her amber eyes gleaming darkly.

"So you intend to use me as your pawn then? Moving me from the shadows and planning out my political moves for me, a knife in my back used to puppet me around," Winter snarled all of a sudden. She was indeed sharp. Blake had tried to be as vague as she could in this conversation but still Winter had figured her out.

"You caught me," Blake raised her hands up, wiggling her brows. "To be fair, without me saving your life, you wouldn't even have a chance to return to the queenship. You owe me for saving your life. A debt I am sure you do not want to keep outstanding."

"I would have just been fine without you!" Winter snarled out. "I didn't need you saving my life. I would have coped fine!" Blake raised a brow and Winter shimmered down, hating how easy it had been for Blake to quickly take away her powers and weapons, leaving her weak. A queen stripped of her power was but merely an empty crown. Blake was right in a way. Winter would have suffered if the White Fang had gotten their hands on her.

"How about I rephrase the deal. I'll work in your service, doing whatever tasks it is you require of me so that I may have your trust. I will even fight the White Fang just to show you that I am on your side. I would betray my own species just so I could save them in the end." Blake held out her hand once more and this time Winter took it. She would be dumb to turn down the services of the Living Shadow. She knew there had to be a good reason that she had deflected. She could hear the bitterness in Blake's voice whenever she talked about Adam. It seemed the man had dealt her a grievous injury. One she would be willing to betray her own kind in order to right.

"I swear if you betray me like Adam did, then this time I will not hesitate to send a message to all of faunus kind, no matter how much I care to bring them equal rights," Winter said, her voice sharp like icicles. Blake knew what those messages consisted of. Fires, and raids on the poor villages. She did not back down from the Queen's glare, letting her know she was up for the job.

They shook hands. The deal was set.

"Now," Winter brought her hand up to her hair, flipping the long locks over her shoulder in dramatic effect. "Where am I?"

"In my underground safe house," Blake explained. "Location is a secret." She could see Winter object to this but a sharp look from Blake stopped her. "i am not the only one who must prove their trust. You must prove your trust to me too. Until then certain things will remain private from you. Such as the location of this place, in case you betray me."

Winter scoffed loudly but did not comment on that. "So, are we going to plan how to get me back to the throne or are you just going to stand around and look at me?"

Blake let her lips turn up in slight amusement. "I'd thought you'd never ask. I have an idea." She gestured to the table in the middle of the room where papers were spread out on it. The two got to work.

* * *

"Bad news, I'm afraid," Cinder announced as way of greeting as she strode into Weiss's private office. The girl was hunched over paper work on her desk. She had signed off another law that would keep faunus tightly constrained to their homes during the weekends as well, this lowering the possibility that they would be able to revolt without her notice. If they did anything out of the ordinary than she would know, the military's relentless eyes on the half breed filth.

"Did the interrogation not go well?" Weiss said without picking her head up. She scribbled down something more on the paper, an additional clause to the law that she had just come up with moments ago.

"The man is a simple grunt. He didn't have access to Adam's higher plans. All he was supposed to do in his time here was provide Winter with a way to speak to Adam. But also serve as a spy and help Adam breach the walls of the mansion for the attack."

"He didn't mention anything about why Winter and Adam were working together?" Weiss put her pen down and pushed the files in her hold into an envelope to be passed along later to a law maker.

Cinder shook her head. Her long locks tumbled over her shoulder. "He didn't know too much. Adam only gave him orders, he didn't consult with him on anything."

Weiss let out a long sigh. Her only lead, dead, literally. Cinder had probably disposed of his corpse already, the man too useless to be any help.

Weiss felt like she had been looking for her sister for ages, it only being barely a week so far that her sister had gone missing. She would have to look for a new lead. If not, then she better start praying that Ironwood's stories about the hunters and huntresses of the Never After were true.

"It will be okay," Cinder gave Weiss a reassuring smile. "Winter is smart and resourceful. I'm sure she is safe somewhere, or at least keeping away from danger."

"Then why hasn't she contacted me?" Weiss couldn't keep the whine from her voice. She was sick of just waiting around and feeling unable to do anything. She felt weak, pathetic, and a failure to the Schnee name.

"She must be waiting for an opportune moment to do so," Cinder appeased, coming over to stand behind Weiss. She placed gentle hands on the tense shoulders of the younger girl. "You must remain level headed and calm, Weiss. It would do no good to worry, despite how much I know you cannot restrain yourself from it."

"Winter is the only family I have left. When my father and mother died...I was impartial at worst and annoyed at best. But Winter- no matter how much we fight and hate each other, she is the closest and only thing I have to family beside you Cinder. I can't afford to lose her, not so soon." Weiss let her hands on the edge of her desk turn white knuckled as she tried to hide her emotions. Her ice walls of solitude and fortitude were melting.

"I worry for her too. But do you know why I trust that she is fine?"

Weiss shook her head no.

"Because she has a sister like you, who is willing to do whatever it takes to find her. Already you've sent out the military, special forces...that is more than anyone else could have done in your position with a country and company to run."

"I should be out there, looking for her with the special forces. I hate just sitting behind the desk."

Cinder rested her chin on the queen's head and let her arms go to the younger girl's shoulder in a hug. Strong scents of ash and incense hung to her skin.

"And then Atlas would be without another queen. The country would fall into ruin and disarray. We can't have that."

Weiss let out a sigh, feeling like she could melt in this hold. She always melted with Cinder around, her frozen feelings awakening and surfacing to the top. Maybe it was because of the other's semblance that she had this affect on Weiss? Now was not the time to be thinking about this. The pressure of her enormous responsibilities weighed heavily on her mind as did her concern for her sister. "It is just frustrating," Weiss admitted.

"Then why don't we do something special to relieve the tension and stress away?"

"I cannot! I have meetings tomorrow I need to prepare for and people to contact in order to make sure my business is running smoothly and then-"

Cinder lifted up a single slender finger to the girl's lips to shush her. "Leave that for your secretary to take care of. Take a break. You need one." Cinder leaned away at this, her hands taking up her earlier position and beginning to gently massage Weiss's shoulders. Her hands felt wonderful and warm and Weiss could feel her eyes beginning to lower.

"I suppose an hour's break wouldn't hurt," she surmised and Cinder let out a hmm of approval. "How does a ride on horseback sound? I'll accompany you to the woods and back."

"That sounds nice. I should visit my horse more often," Weiss thought back to her Arabic pure white breed horse. Animals were therapeutic, horses included. Maybe she should buy a dog as well to keep herself relaxed?

"I'll get the servants to prepare the horses," Cinder left and Weiss went to her room to get her clothes ready.

Ten minutes later the two girls met outside, servants holding their horses in place. Cinder was wearing her riding gear and those tight pants made her legs look criminally good. Weiss had to actively remind herself not to stare.

"Ready to ride?" Cinder asked, as she climbed onto her horse with well practiced ease. Her horse was brown with swirling white marks, named Cinnamon appropriately.

Weiss had named her own horse Snow, for it's pure coat. She too got up with ease, riding crop tucked under her arm. "I am. Can you keep up?" Weiss taunted. Every time she and Cinder had ridden, it was in competition. The two would race each other to see who was the better rider. Cinder naturally was, having years of horseback riding under her belt before Weiss had even touched a saddle. But Cinder had let Weiss win the races when she saw how upset the white haired girl would get if she lost. This only made Weiss madder. She wanted to be better, but not because someone let her be, but by her own volition.

"We'll see," Cinder responded with a smile, pulling the reins tight. "Ready on your count."

Weiss nodded her head to let the servants around them to count down. One of them took the initiative, counting down to one from three. On three Weiss got into the proper horseback riding posture, on two she tightened her reins and on one she slid her heels into the stirrups. She shot a minute glance at Cinder whose eyes were already staring ahead at the wide expanse of field in front of them. The finish line? The same tree as every other time.

Then on the go, they were off, hoofs thudding on the ground and horses pushing forwards. Weiss went back and forth in rhythm, hitting her riding crop on her horses flank to increase his speed. Cinder didn't need a riding flank for her horse. He was old, older than Snow, but he and Cinder had had the privilege of knowing each other for years and thus he was as easy for Cinder to control as it was to spread butter on bread. Snow was newer and gentle, not typically competitive. That was why Weiss had to goad him into running faster.

The wind whipped past her face, strands of small hairs tickling her face as they came free from their helmet cage. Weiss kept casting glances at Cinder every now and then to make sure she was still tied with the girl. She was. Cinder didn't seem to be in a rush today and this annoyed Weiss. She knew the woman could go faster if she wanted to. She was just teasing Weiss.

"Don't think so low of me!" Weiss cried out over the sound of thundering hooves. "Don't hold back!"

Cinder looked at her then, the first time since the start. Otherwise her eyes had been glued tight to the goal. A smirk lit up her face. "I was merely letting Cinnamon warm up, but if you insist on speeding up, then," she trailed off as she lowered herself closer to her horse and cried out, "Let her eat your dust Cinnamon!" The horses ears pricked up and he surged forwards a full head ahead of Weiss. The white haired girl gave a smile and kicked Snow hard. Her horse too surged ahead but not nearly as much as Cinder's had.

"Go Snow!" she urged but this was it. It was the fastest he would go. She knew she had lost before the race was over.

The rest of the field ended and Cinder crossed past the tree first, pulling on her reins to stop her horse. Weiss slowed down too, dismounting as soon as Snow had slowed down enough. Cinder was already by the small stream by the old gnarled tree, the one that the two of them would passed hours gossiping by, climbing, or lying underneath the dead branches and looking up at the stars. Cinnamon was drinking from the stream, snorting heavily and his sides heaving from exhaustion. Weiss let her horse drink too, reigns tight in her hand. Cinder had let her horse go in favor of tugging her long boots off. "That was quite a workout. I think I've given myself two more abs," Cinder joked, rolling up her khaki pants and striding into the cold water. Scooping up a handful she poured water over her head to cool down. It streamed down her hair like little jewels and she moved her hair back to get the now wet strands out of her eyes.

Weiss couldn't help but watch this, mesmerized by the way the water droplets got caught in the older woman's eyelashes. Cinder turned around at this, making Weiss jump at being caught staring so unabashedly. "What?" Cinder arched a brow. "Feeling hot?"

_If only you really knew_...Weiss could feel herself blush at this, a touch wistful. Her chest felt warm after looking at Cinder raking her hair back. Thankfully she knew Cinder was referring to the heat and not something else or else she would have blushed more. It  _was_  a hot spring day.

"Just a tad," Weiss answered, turning up her chin, trying to regain her internal balance from being flustered, by saying that with more arrogance than needed. She was rewarded with a splash of water to her face, causing her to gasp out in shock at how cold it was. "Cinder!" she admonished but Cinder was already out of the stream and hefting Weiss up in her arms.

"Let's cool you down," she grinned madly as she carried Weiss bridal style down into the water.

"Put me down!" Weiss demanded shrilly, pounding her small fists against Cinder's shoulders, afraid of touching her chest. Cinder ignored her and when they got to a deeper part of the stream, the water up to Cinder's thighs, the woman dropped Weiss.

The white haired girl floundered in the water before she got up to her feet and began to chase Cinder around screaming loudly as Cinder laughed gleefully, splashing water at her and trying to push her into the water. The horses merely neighed as the two girls danced around them.

At last when the two girls had exhausted themselves, they mounted their horses once more, soaked. "Feeling better?" Cinder asked and Weiss nodded her head. That break had been just what she needed. Spending time with Cinder had melted some of her stress away.

"Thank you," Weiss said genuinely as she gave Cinder a small smile. One of her real smiles. The ones she reserved for close people and for her sister. Cinder returned it, making Weiss's heart jump, and her cheeks blush when she noticed something. "I'm glad I was able to help."

Weiss nodded her head, and avoided looking at Cinder for the rest of the ride back. Cinder had been wearing a white shirt and now that it was wet, Weiss could see through it. It left nothing to the imagination about the ample curves there.

She suddenly felt parched.


End file.
